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JOTTINGS froiTthe PACIFIC 



LIFE AND INCIDENTS 



IN THE 



FIJIAN AND SAMOAN ISLANDS 



By EMMA h' ADAMS, 

Author of "To and Fro in Southern Calif ornia" and 
"Up and Down in Oregon and Washington." 



\ SEP16 1890_) i/^ 



PACIFIC PRESvS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
OAKLAND, CAL., 

SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK, AND LONDON. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by 

Pacific Press Publishing Company, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGES. 

Geographical Position of Fiji 7-13 

CHAPTER 11. 
Government and Religion of Fiji - - - - 14-19 

CHAPTER III. 
Ph^^sical and Social Peculiarities - _ - - 20-26 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Wonderful Productions of Fiji - - - 27-31 

CHAPTER V. 
Other Products of Fiji 32-40 

CHAPTER VI. 
Coral Formations of the Pacific _ _ - - 41-47 

CHAPTER VII. 
A Cannibal Outbreak _.---. 48-59 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Fijian Traditions 60-63 

CHAPTER IX. 

Past and Present Funeral Rites 64-76 

CHAPTER X. 
The Capital of Fiji 77-97 

(V) 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Samoan Islands 98-113 

CHAPTER XII. 
Other Samoan Products and Customs - - - 1 14-124 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Interesting Samoan Topics - - - - 125-136 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Other Wonders of the Southern Seas - - - 137-148 

CHAPTER XV. 
Our Relations with Samoa - - - - - 149-155 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Cyclones in the Coral Seas 155-164 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Levuka, Fiji Frontispiece 

Natives Worshiping a Post 18 

Fagraea Berteriana (Fruit) 22 

Fijian Parrot - - -19 

Seven Pine 31 

A Coral Island in the South Pacific - - - - 42 

Atoll, or Ring-reef 45 

South Sea Island Scenery (Opoa Raiatia) - - - 49 

Banyan Tree 78 

Sun-fish - - - - - 83 

Cocoa-eating Lopaphus ------ 97 

Bay of Apia, Upolo Island, Samoa _ - _' _ 103 

Sword-fish 122 

A Solitary Fisher 138 

The Robber Crab 144 



JOTTINGS FROM THE PACIFIC. 



CHAPTER I. 

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF FIJI. 

OW we are off for months 
of life and study among the 
island groups of the South- 
ern Pacific Ocean. The 
Golden Gate has vanished 
from sight. We are fairly 
out on the wide main. Re- 
turn we cannot. Nor dare 
we suffer even our thoughts 
That step might cost us tears. 
So we shut our native land out of mind, and turn 
thoughts and eyes into — distance, distance. 

Almost directly southwest of San Francisco, 3,670 
miles away, lies beautiful Fiji-land. For that point 
our steamer is headed. So are we. On her way 
the ship will touch at the Sandwich Islands, 2,100 
miles off our coast to the southwest. To these isl- 
ands, however, we give no place in this little book, 

(7) 




to fly back to shore. 



8 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

because, when we come to talk about the Hawaiian 
Kingdom, we shall want to do something more than 
to ''touch '' at Honolulu. 

So, outward we speed, crossing the equator, and 
after many days of patient sailing, find ourselves in 
the fine harbor of Gloa Bay, island of Kandavu, the 
southernmost of the Fiji group. We are now ninety 
miles from the little town of Levuka, the capital of 
Fiji. The place is situated on the island of Ovalau, 
a bit of territory measuring eight miles by seven, 
and the central land of the group. While making 
this distance, in any sort of craft that offers, let us 
endeavor to ascertain why recent geographers ar- 
range the 8,000 islands of the Pacific Ocean in the 
manner our latest maps exhibit them. 

Formerly, the vast insular multitude was included 
under the very appropriate term, Polynesia — many 
islands. But more and more through the last three 
centuries, and especially during the present one, 
have missionaries, navigators, trades-people, and 
even adventurers, lived among their interesting in- 
habitants, and studied their resemblances and differ- 
ences; their customs, language, traditions, and origin. 
The result has been the grouping of the islands 
according to the race unities, or race distinctions, of 
the 77,000,000 of people living upon them, rather 
than according to the geographical position of the 
lands themselves. Now, therefore, we have the 
vast territory presented in three great sections, 
under the names Micronesia, Melanesia, and Poly- 
nesia. 



GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF FIJI. 9 

To designate these grand divisions accurately is 
quite impossible, owing, if we may so express our- 
selves, to the overlapping of the races. However, 
beginning with the most northern division, we may 
say that Micronesia embraces an area of the Pacific 
Ocean about 3,500 miles in length from east to 
west, and 2,000 miles from north to south, lying 
north of the equator, and mostly southwest of the 
United States. The term embraces the Caroline, 
Ladrone, Marshall, Gilbert, Anson, Bonin, and 
Magellan groups, besides a multitude of small islets 
scattered north and west of the Sandwich Islands. 

In this division, in spite of race infringements, 
ethnology tells a truthful story, for, in appearance, 
language, and customs, the populations are closely 
united, and constitute a large branch of the fairer 
part of what was once termed '^ the Polynesian race." 
Still, the tale is told with curious variations. For 
instance: The inhabitants of the Gilbert Isles show, 
unmistakably, the excellent influence of the Samoan 
people, while on some of the Marshall and Ladrone 
Islands there are communities, so much darker in 
color and more benighted than others, as to quickly 
suggest Melanesian origin. 

Perhaps the most advanced Micronesians are the 
upper classes of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. 
Of splendid physique, and wide-awake, they are the 
marine architects, the trades-people, the tradition 
keepers, and the expedition leaders of this division. 
They are polite, hospitable, expert fishermen, skillful 



10 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

husbandmen. From a hand-loom of their invention, 
they weave beautiful fabrics of banana, hibiscus, 
and other fibers. The upper class of the Marshall 
Islanders is the most daring sea-going people of the 
Pacific. They make voyages of months in duration, 
in vast canoes, well-provisioned, and thus reveal 
how widely severed islands of the ocean have been 
populated. They have charts, curiously fashioned, 
which show the position of the lands, and the 
course of the winds and currents. The population 
of these. groups, called the Eastern Carolines, is 
about 160,000. They were discovered in 1528; were 
named for Charles II., of Spain, and are under 
Spanish dominion ; but all the leading European 
nations have taken a hand in bringing them to 
light. 

Pages of most readable things might be written 
of Micronesia and its race, but this little volume has 
another mission ; therefore, here we leave them, 
hoping some future day may give opportunity to 
tell the story. 

Beginning with Papua, or New Guinea, just be- 
low the equator, and stretching southeastwardly a 
distance of 3,500 miles, to New Caledonia, just 
within the tropic of Capricorn, and thence northeast- 
wardly to the Fiji Islands, 1,000 miles above New 
Zealand, lies the splendid group composing Mela- 
nesia. 

Indeed, in this division are New Guinea (the larg- 
est island on the globe except Australia), the three 



GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF FIJI. II 

magnificent single islands, New Britain, New Ire- 
land, New Caledonia, and the Solomon, Santa Cruz, 
Queen Charlotte, New Hebrides, Loyalty, Society, 
Banks, EUice, and Fijian groups, with any number of 
bits of coral real-estate, whose names are unknown. 
The word Melanesia means ''black islands," and was 
applied by the French, on account of the dark color 
of the inhabitants, who belong to the Papuan, or 
New Guinea, race, and speak the Papuan tongue. 

The chain follows, rather inaccurately, the con- 
tour of the Australian coast, thus giving the islands 
a geographical, as they certainly have an ethnolog- 
ical, unity. A young gentleman sojourning in that 
region lately, in search of facts concerning the isl- 
ands, tells us that were they all joined together the 
area would be 350,000 square miles; and their pres- 
ent population, exceeding 1,000,000, is less than 
that of the little State of New Jersey. 

Here, too, in Melanesia, have we natives of ma- 
jestic figure, intelligent, shrewd in general affairs, 
but implacably revengeful, possessing a hot thirst for 
human blood, and a keen cannibalistic appetite. 
Nevertheless, they are readily influenced by Chris- 
tian teaching, and cheerfully submissive under au- 
thority. But, on arriving in Levuka, we shall give 
them further attention. 

Were a line to be drawn from the Hawaiian Isl- 
ands southward to New Zealand, and then extended 
eastward about an equal distance, we should have 
two sides of a square, each nearly four thousand 



12 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

miles long, within which would lie Polynesia, to-day 
the third grand division of the Pacific islands, for- 
merly embracing, as we have already remarked, all 
the groups and single islands lying between the 
eastern shore of Asia and the western coast of 
America. 

The clusters most familiar to us in Polynesia 
are the Hervey, Friendly, Austral, Union, Phoenix, 
Samoan, Penryhn, Duke of York, and Kermadec, 
with the Hawaiian in the far northwest, and the 
Tuamotus, or Low Archipelago, gemming the sea 
i,ooo miles east of charming Tahiti. Very many 
of the Tuamotus are mere coral islets, or atolls, en- 
circling lagoons, dangerously studded with coraL 
The lagoon of Hao, for instance, wl-'ch is a surface of 
water twenty-five miles long by fifteep miles wide, 
if I remember correctly, is regally rii imed around 
by fifty pretty islets, while its bosom is %^rly em- 
broidered with lovely coral formatio^is. 

A dearth of both animal and vegetable life dis- 
tinguishes many of the Tuamotus. Insects are very 
rare ; of reptiles there is only a lizard ; of mammals, 
only a rat ; but, as if to make amend for the parsi- 
mony on shore, the sea is alive with fish, mollusks, 
crustaceans, and zoophytes. 

But we may not linger in Eastern Polynesia, ex- 
cept to say that one of the Tuamotus was Captain 
Magellan's first discovery upon entering the south- 
ern Pacific in 1520; that since then the group has 
been visited by navigators of every race, and for 



GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF FIJI. 1 3 

every purpose, and has been christened in every 
tongue; that the archipelago is sometimes called 
" The Pearl Islands/' and pearl fishing is the only 
paying industry; that many of the larger atolls are 
settled by a strong, dark-skinned people, whose 
daily menu comprises only fish, cocoanuts and 
pandanus fruit; but that the inhabitants of Poly- 
nesia, generally, are fairer, kindlier, more attractive 
than the Melanesians, those living on the coral isl- 
ands being darker than those on the volcanic, and 
those nearest the equator being the fairest of all ; 
that through the efforts of English and American 
missionaries, chiefly, the paganism of earlier days is 
quite eradicated, notably so in the Hawaiian, Sa- 
moan, and Society groups ; and finally, that coral is 
the marvel everywhere, in old ocean's depths, on 
old ocean's breast. But to this latter subject we 
shall devote an early chapter of this book, dropping 
it here to cultivate acquaintance with the bold 
Fijians, a people buried in revolting heathenism 
until fifteen years ago, when the queen of England 
laid her restricting hand upon them and attached 
them to the British crown. 




CHAPTER 11. 

GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION OF FIJI. 

ANY of the Fijian Islands are among the 
richest gems of coral land. They are distin- 
guished for their charming scenery, for their 
delightful climate, for the great variety and value of 
their productions. About eighty, only, of the 250 
are inhabited. The principal islands of the group 
are Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Kandavu, Ovalau, and 
one or two others of less importance, Levuka, the 
capital, being on the last mentioned, as already 
stated. 

In 1882 the population was estimated at 122,000, 
of whom 2,000 were Polynesians and coolies, while 
2,000 were white people from every clime. There 
is evidence that when Fiji was a powerful, homo- 
geneous kingdom, the population was much more 
dense. In i860 there were forty tribes, all more or 
less independent, speaking one language, and pos- 
sessing a strong feeling of nationality. They were 
under twelve chiefs, at whose head was Cacobau, 
chief of Bau, who styled himself king of Viti. 

On the 20th of September, 1874, the Fijians 
formally and voluntarily ceded their islands to the 
English crown, and are now controlled by an ef- 
fectively-organized colonial government. As hold- 
(14) 



GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION OF FIJI. I5 

ers of the land, the people live under a community 
system, the family being the true proprietary unit. 
Not infrequently, the family bears the name of its 
principal allotment of land. No matter how many 
individuals are included in the family community, 
the allotment is always held for their use and benefit, 
whether they be full birthright members or only 
strangers, admitted into the family to share its bene- 
fits for a time. 

Quite differently, the political unit is the village, 
over which presides a native chief, as the head of 
the municipal council, and the special executive of- 
ficers. Several villages, grouped into a district, 
form the next grade. Over this reigns a native 
governor, to whom report, once a month, the vil- 
lage chiefs, the superintendents of roads, bridges, 
public baths, and some other departments. Again, 
placed over the district rulers, are a number of higher 
chiefs, who, with certain special magistrates, and His 
Excellency the colonial governor, convene twice 
annually, as the great council, to report affairs and 
propose measures to Her Majesty's government. 
Thus the entire political structure is purely native 
and perfectly spontaneous. Frequently, the sug- 
gestions of the Fijian council have received the 
hearty commendation of the home government, 
both for the sterling sense and the executive capac- 
ity they reveal. 

Notwithstanding the fact that Wesleyan mission- 
aries began their labors in Fiji as early as 1835, the 



i6 THE FIJI And samoan groups. 

natives were mostly atrocious man eaters not twenty 
years ago. Even King Tanao — father of ex-King 
Cacobau — who died so recently as 1852, dehghted 
in the taste of human flesh. In fact, Fiji was the 
last known stronghold of cannibalism in the South 
Pacific. It may be said that the country generally, 
under Catholic and Wesleyan teaching, has accepted 
Christianity, but for many years prior to this 
change, Fiji life and religion were steeped in horrors. 
Doubtless their cannibalism grew out of the custom 
of offering human sacrifices to their gods, and these 
were probably the only occasions of indulgence in 
eating the flesh of the victims. But long ago the 
rite had engendered a morbid craving for human 
flesh, and to appease it every possible occasion was 
embraced. 

Says H. S. Cooper, in ''Coral Lands of the Pa- 
cific : " '' Helpless strangers, thrown upon their shores 
by any fate, were nearly always killed and eaten. 
Widows were sacrificed at the death of their hus- 
bands, and slaves at the death of their masters. 
Upon the completion of a house, at receptions given 
to embassies from other tribes, numbers of devoted 
victims were slain." 

In 1840, the period of Commodore Wilkes' voy- 
age in the South Pacific, certain prisoners in the 
hands of the Fijians were fattened and roasted 
alive, at a feast in honor of one of their gods. 
Wilkes' description of the proceeding is graphic 
and too horrible to be transferred to our pages. 



GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION OF FIJI. 1 7 

Mr. James Harding relates that, while on a visit to 
Na Drau, where he had aided in quelHng a fierce 
cannibal outbreak, not long before, in the mount- 
ains of Viti Levu, he had an opportunity to exam- 
ine a curious repository for the cannibal trophies of 
the tribe. 

He found the interior thickly lined with tally- 
reeds, representing the number of victims eaten. 
When ten men had been killed, that number of 
reeds, in a bundle, were laid up under the roof, 
while for one person destroyed, single reeds were 
deposited. The four sides were about equally filled 
with the unique decorations. To count the reeds 
of one side and multiply by four, gave the shocking 
total — between four and five thousand ! The Fijian 
of 1 890 is not a generation removed from some of 
the blood-thirsty contributors to their tally-reed 
museum, which contained besides, many human 
skulls, thigh-bones, and clubs skillfully inlaid with 
human teeth. 

A recent writer upon the Fijians and their cus- 
toms, says, with an air of great satisfaction : "While 
the traveler sees, on all sides, traces of the old 
devil-worship of the islanders, he will yet observe 
that many of the traditions of heathenism, though 
dying hard, are fading away, while all that was 
good in them is being carefully adapted so as to be 
in harmony with the Christianity now professed." 
Instantly one is led to ask : Why should the " good 
things " of devil-worship be engrafted upon Chris- 



i8 



THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 



tianity ? Is not Christianity, without the sHghtest 
admixture of their old heathen worship, the very 
best thing in the form of rehgion that can be of- 




NATIVE WORSHIPING A POST. 



fered the advancing Fijians ? Christianity, with the 
choicest of their former rites ''carefully fitted into 
it," is no longer Christianity. It is something else. 
Christianity needs nothing fitted into it to improve 
it, or to help it make its way. 

In Fiji the Catholic Church — -or any other that is 
adopting her plan — is making her old mistake, re- 
peated in every attempt she has ever made to con- 
vert a heathen people, of allowing more or less of 
their old rites to be retained and mingled with the 
Christian worship. All history shows that such 
temporizing has resulted in failure. And it must 



GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION OF FIJI. 



19 



ever be so, since truth and error xan never occupy 
the same ground at the same time. Heathenism 
and Christianity are not doing the same work in 
the world. 

Fiji is now nominally a Christian land, but her 
people, just emerged from centuries of the most re- 
volting cannibalism, can hardly be raised to a life 
of spirituality, nor become worshipers of the God 
who made the heavens and the earth; nor believers 
in the Lord Jesus Christ as a Saviour from sin, so 
long as they retain a vestige of forms that associate 
with their new faith the abominations of the past. 
They must forget the things which are behind. 




FIJIAN PARROT. 




CHAPTER III. 

PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL PECULIARITIES. 

; OME things are to be said in favor of the 
Fijians. Physically, they are a fine race, 
with a dark olive complexion and a counte- 
nance not lacking intelligence. The men will aver- 
age five feet eight inches, while some of the chiefs 
exceed this standard. Faultless figures and pretty 
faces distinguish some of the women, when young, 
but these charms disappear early, and their loss is 
one of the prices they pay for the privilege of toiling 
inordinately for their dusky lords. In youth both 
men and women have a superb bearing, and are 
aware of it ; and they are also quick to detect the 
lack of dignified carriage in strangers. We here 
cheerfully record the fact that during the cannibal 
era the women of Fiji were not allowed to partake 
of human flesh, and some of their priests, also, were 
restricted from eating it. 

Hospitality is their virtue par excellence, and to- 
ward white men, especially , do they delight to exer- 
cise it, as a sort of homage paid to them perhaps 
because they perceive that the better ones among 
them are their superiors mentally and morally. 

A Fijian is curious even to annoyance, while he 
does not seem to be particularly imitative. He will 
(20) 



PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL PECULIARITIES. 21 

watch one's proceedings with amazing patience. 
But the matter which ehcits his highest wonder is 
the table arrangements of the Europeans and their 
mode of taking a meal. He will stand and eagerly 
observe the routine until the courses are completed 
and "thanks " are returned. 

Deferring until to-morrow what ought to be 
done to-day, is a prime accomplishment of the race. 
''I will think about that to-morrow," is ever on 
their lips. "A convenient season" for doing a thing 
is a period for which they are always on the look- 
out. This is not because they are either indolent 
or improvident — for of neither fault can they be 
judged guilty — but because after that easy fashion 
they have been brought up. Indeed, a Fijian 
householder has not attained his ideal until he has 
in store a supply more than sufficient for the daily 
requirements of his family, dependents, and way- 
farers. Besides food, he must have mats, native 
cloth, and other needful property for all contin- 
gencies. Plenty to eat and plenty to give, consti- 
tutes ideal living for chief or commoner in Fiji. 

While some tribes are termed fishing tribes, and 
others carpenter, or building tribes, the Fijians are 
distinctively an agricultural people. Husbandry 
commands their highest respect. It is said that 
raerly can there be found an aged man, or even a lad 
of twelve years, who does not, each year, cultivate his 
own plot of ground. And in some communities 
even the women have their own gardens. Their 



22 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

implements for farming are " the ax and knife for 
cleaving purposes," and the omnipresent digging- 




FAGR^A BERTERIANA (fRUIT). 

stick for treating the soil. Fijian skill in using the 
latter has led some of the white residents to pro- 
nounce it a rival of the plow. 

Like numbers of the South Pacific peoples, the 
Fijians excel in canoo building. Besides the simple 
dug-out, common all over the island world, they 
construct an elaborate double canoe, which is 
braced together firmly by an extended upper deck, 
upon which a small house is erected. This craft 



PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL PECULIARITIES. 23 

is frequently one hundred feet in length, with a 
hold six feet in depth, and may be propelled by 
sails or by oars. When using the latter, the rowers 
always stand. Such a boat will transport several 
tons of freight, and at least one hundred passen- 
gers. The canoes of princes, often elegantly orna- 
mented with shells, carry immense white sails and 
fly royal streamers. They sail rapidly, and are ex- 
tremely picturesque. '' The Fiji sailors," says 
Cooper, *'are now all Christians!" 

The spot which serves for a home for anybody, 
among any people, is an object of interest. The 
Fijian home, therefore, shall next invite our pen, 
since from it will spring the influences which must 
conserve or destroy Fijian nationality in the South 
Sea. We shall find that almost universally the 
house consists of bamboo canes interwoven diag- 
onally, and fastened to uprights made of the cocoa- 
nut tree. A cocoanut log forms the ridge-pole, 
which usually extends a foot or more beyond the 
ends of the building. The roof is thickly thatched 
with dried cocoanut leaves. In many instances the 
thatch is three feet in thickness. The interior, we 
see, is not very luxurious, but the floor is nicely 
carpeted with layers of mats, made of straw or reeds > 
skillfully manufactured by the natives. A platform 
is raised slightly at one end of the single room 
for the sleeping apartment. For table furniture — 
there are no tables — we notice only shallow, round 
bowls and oval platters, shaped from solid pieces 



24 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

of wood, with cocoanut shells for drinking-cups. 
Ordinarily the Fijian's pillow is a section of bam- 
boo resting upon two crutches, about four inches 
high, an appliance not the least suggestive of com- 
fort, yet with head or neck upon it the native 
sleeps profoundly. 

At Suva, in the island of Viti Levu, may be 
seen the house of a " lady chief," which is very 
attractive. Outside, the bamboos are woven in 
^^lozenge-shaped" designs. The thatched roof is 
trimmed prettily along the eaves. Inside, the walls 
are tapestried with native cloth. The beams and 
door-posts are polished, and ornamented with rope 
of cocoanut fiber, or with sennit variously colored, 
while the floor is laid with fine white matting. 
The bed, raised about a foot from the floor, is cur- 
tained with mosquito netting. 

In almost every Fijian village a school is estab- 
lished, and the inhabitants read, write, and keep 
accounts. Every day, under English rule, and 
through contact with the representatives of other 
civilized nations, the sphere of practical knowledge 
is extending. In the town of Bau, in 1882, the 
English tongue had been added to the course of 
study. In the earlier days, as now, accepting the 
testimony of Commodore Wilkes, marriage among 
the natives was celebrated with religious rites. 
The ceremony was brief and simple, and in some 
particulars much resembled that in our own coun- 
try. The priest who was to conduct the service hav- 



PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL PECULIARITIES. 2$ 

ing taken his seat, the bridegroom was placed on his 
right, and the bride on his left. He then invoked 
upon the bride the blessing and protection of the 
god who is interested in such cases, after which he 
led her to the bridegroom, united their hands, and 
enjoined them to love, honor, be faithful to, and 
die with each other. The last charge was an al- 
lusion to the dreadful rite of sacrificing widows at 
the death of their husbands. The marriage con- 
cluded, the wedding breakfast followed, and was 
probably, says Cooper, '^as indigestible a meal as 
usually obtains with us " — meaning in England. 
Genuine courtships are the privilege of all ranks, 
although the daughter of a chief is sometimes 
engaged at a very early age. A maiden cannot 
marry without her brother's consent, even if she 
has secured that of her parents, whose assent is 
manifested by accepting the lover's presents. 

A prince of the royal house in Fiji, unlike those 
of some monarchical countries, sometimes takes the 
liberty of selecting his own partner for life, as the 
subjoined bit of history shows. In 1879, Prince 
Joe, the youngest son of King Cacobau, took it 
into his head to marry a damsel of somewhat hum- 
ble birth. The parents and friends of the young 
chief were desirous that he should wed the daugh- 
ter of Chief Tui Suva, a young lady who was quite 
his equal in rank, liberally endowed with real es- 
tate, and herself quite smitten with Joe. But he 
remained true to his choice, and when unduly 



26 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

urged by his friends, settled the matter by arrang- 
ing a clandestine marriage, which fell little short of 
an elopement, but was a union of true affection. 
The old king was very irate at first, but in time re- 
lented, and, like a sensible man, forgave the couple, 
and to appease the relatives prepared them a sump° 
tuous feast. Thus we see that human nature, in 
young people and old people, is much the same thing 
in half-benighted Fiji as elsewhere in the world. 





CHAPTER IV. 

THE WONDERFUL PRODUCTIONS OF FIJI. 

^UCH of the soil of Fiji is volcanic, and is 
nowhere exceeded in fertility. Along the 
banks of the rivers lie thousands of acres 
of rich alluvial flats, rivaling in depth and rich- 
ness of soil some of the famous valleys of Washing- 
ton, and in that State, between Puget Sound and 
the Cascade Range, are districts overlaid with the 
most affluent soil to a depth of fourteen or fifteen 
feet; soil on Avhich successive crops have been 
raised for half a century. 

Nearly every product of the tropics, the world 
around, will thrive in Fiji, with but an attempt at 
cultivation. But cautious scientific authority as- 
serts that, with the powers of the land fully devel- 
oped, the annual value of different exports from the 
islands would amount to enormous sums. This 
affords us a slight hint of Fiji's future importance 
to England. 

Among the many articles which may be cultivated 
abundantly and profitably in the rich river bottoms, 
in the fine loam of the hills, or in the volcanic de- 
bris of the table-lands, are : Rice, tea, coffee, sugar- 
cane, oranges, bananas, yams, taro, the cocoanut, 
Indian-corn, cacao, tapioca, arrowroot, and the 

(^7) 



28 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

pandanus, while the pineapple will flourish every- 
where in Fiji. Some of these articles, indeed, re- 
quire care and skill in their cultivation ; but from 
most of them may lavish results be expected, if the 
planter but half does his work. Still, the more me- 
chanical appliances he employs, — plow, pick, spade, 
hoe, drill, barrow, or grubber, — the more rapidly will 
he build his fortune. 

Formerly, the forests of Fiji teemed with trees 
yielding oils, gums, resins, balsams, and perfumes, 
with fibrous plants, a dozen or more, and medicinal 
growths, enough to found a materia fnedica. In fact, 
Fiji is one of the most prolific drug-producing lands 
on the globe — a surprising state of things when it 
is remembered that the climate of the group is re- 
markably healthful; ague, malarious fevers, and 
other diseases common to tropical lands, are said to 
be almost unknown in the colony. Was it for this 
reason, do you suppose, that the native medicine- 
men studied the killing properties of plants, as well 
as their healing qualities ? And is it for this reason 
that Fiji abounds with plants that are virulent poi- 
sons ? 

Generally, the medicine-men are attached to the 
chiefs, as body-guards or as ministers of their venge- 
ance. Formerly, says Mr. Litton Forbes, one of 
them might have been seen one day prowling about 
some village. The next day he had disappeared. 
But suddenly, soon after, the chief, or some other 
head man of the place, had drooped and died. No 



THE WONDERFUL PRODUCTIONS OF FIJI. 2g 

remarks were made, no questions were asked about 
the matter, lest the same fate should overtake the 
inquirers. There is also a class of persons in Fiji — 
usually women — answering to our ''herb doctors/' 
who have a knowledge of certain plants possessed 
of remarkable healing properties, and no amount of 
reward can tempt them to disclose their name or 
habitat. 

The sylvan wealth of the colony includes, also, 
timber trees of great value, some of them equal to 
the best pine of our Pacific Coast. The island of 
Vanua Levu yields a good article of caoutchouc, 
growing wild everywhere. Sandal-wood, almost 
priceless now, through prodigal cutting away of 
the trees, may be grown to any extent; while, 
with proper management, teak, ebony, mahogany, 
rosewood, gutta-percha, and the various ratoons, 
may be made to swell the export list of the islands. 
Cane lands are situated in all parts of the group, at 
the mouths and on the banks of the rivers, in the 
distant interior of Viti Levu, on Taviuni, Rabi, 
Ovalau, and Vanua Levu. 

Then follow, among the spices, cloves, ginger, 
nutmeg, pepper, vanilla, pimento, and cinnamon, all 
articles of commercial importance and of world- 
wide use. 

We have just referred to the extensive cane lands 
of Fiji. The reader need not be surprised to learn 
that in a land where wild canes thrive to admiration, 
the sugar-cane holds an important place, and that 



30 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

much of the real wealth of Fiji lies in its present 
and possible sugar plantations. The healthy ap- 
pearance, rapid growth, and large yield of this cane, 
are a wonder to planters from special sugar coun- 
tries. Furthermore, the spontaneous production of 
cane-plants in these islands suggests interesting 
queries as to the original home of the sugar-cane. 
From time immemorial, and for purposes innumera- 
ble, it has been cultivated in these islands of the 
South Sea, and centuries ago was carried by the 
natives, in their long sea excursions, to the islands 
and countries of eastern tropical Asia. These facts 
lead planters to surmise that hereabouts may have 
been its starting-point. But careful botanical re- 
search only can settle the question. Meanwhile 
sagacious planters will not forget that, in their 
adaptability of soil and favorableness of climate, the 
Fijian Islands promise an exportation of sugar, mill- 
ions of pounds sterling in value. But to secure such 
a finality, certain reforms in sugar cultivation must 
take place in Fiji. At present, on the ground of 
expediency, the plant is cut all the year round, not 
at the season — from September to December. Thus 
much of the cane is crushed when the sap is at its 
lowest, instead of its highest, density. A minimum 
amount of sugar is the result. The wet, warm sea- 
son — the four months of winter — is the natural 
time for the cane to grow. Cut at the end of this 
season, instead of at the beginning, forces their 
growth into the cold period, insuring small returns. 



THE WONDERFUL PRODUCTIONS OF FIJI. 3 1 

Seven years ago over three thousand acres were 
under sugar cultivation in Fiji. 




SCREW-PINE. 




CHAPTER V. 

OTHER PRODUCTS OF FIJI. 

^N the new British Colony, also, are found 
large areas of land better adapted to grow- 
ing coffee than any other tropical plant. 
These districts lie, chiefly, in the five larger islands. 
In the interior of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, and Tav- 
iuni, especially, this shrub seems to attain perfection. 
Several estates, at these points, embrace large planta- 
tions of the berry. As an export, it is anticipated that 
coffee will rank next to sugar in quantity and value. 
The government, becoming interested, has sent 
large supplies of the fruit into central Viti Levu to 
plant coffee gardens for the natives. The coffee- 
plant is a sensitive shrub, especially disliking cold 
winds. And long ago, observant growers learned 
not to locate their plantations where the trade-winds 
could sweep over them, directly off the sea ; or if 
they must be so situated, to protect them by plant- 
ing dense thickets of hardy shrubbery on the wind- 
ward side. Early in 1880 nearly two thousand 
acres were under coffee, and the estimated yield 
per acre was eight hundred weight. 

Another important commodity which may be de- 
rived from Fiji, is cacao, from which our palatable 
beverage, chocolate, is made. The tree, though not 
(32) 



OTHER PRODUCTS OF FIJL 33 

a native, may be easily grown in the islands, as ex- 
periments have proved. In 1878 over one thousand 
cacao trees were introduced into Viti Levu, which, in 
1882, were flourishing encouragingly. From cacao 
are manufactured the delicious chocolate candies, so 
much prized, and the articles called chocolate nibs, 
chocolate shells, etc. In its native soil the tree 
obtains a height of sixteen or eighteen feet. From 
South America and the West Indies come the best 
varieties, and the largest importations to this country. 
Its name, Theobroma cacao, is derived from two 
Greek w^ords, meaning a food for the gods, and 
was given by Linnaeus in his high appreciation of 
chocolate as a beverage. The tree is smaller on 
plantations than in its native forests, and has large, 
smooth, glossy, oblong leaves, growing usually 
from the ends of the branches, but sometimes 
springing directly from the trunks of the trees. 
The flowers are small, and occur in clusters, out of 
which generally only one fruit-pod attains perfec- 
tion. The pod is from seven to ten inches in length, 
and seven or eight inches in diameter; is hard, rough, 
and leather-like, and of a rich, purplish-yellow color. 
Inside, it is divided into five long compartments, 
filled, each, with a row of five or ten seeds, laid in a 
bed of soft pink, acid pulp. These seeds, from 
twenty to forty in number, are the cacao beans of 
commerce. For these beans the tree is cultivated, 
and from them is made our chocolate. Chocolate is 
not an infusion of cacao, as tea and coffee are infu- 
3 



34 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

sions. The total substance of the bean enters and 
nourishes the system. 

Another product of immense value in South 
Sea commerce, and of almost unlimited usefulness 
to the inhabitants, is the cocoanut tree. So widely 
distributed is it that one can scarcely take up a 
work upon any portion of the region but he is 
impressed with the conspicuous part the cocoanut 
tree plays. With yams and taro it completes the 
staple articles of food for the people. Its trunk sup- 
ports, and its leaves thatch, the roofs of their 
houses. Mats made of its leafy fiber carpet their 
floors, help form their beds, and close the open 
sides of their homes at night. The milk from the 
heart of the nut makes a refreshing drink. From 
the white kernel, dried, in which state it is called 
copra, is expressed the celebrated lubricating oil of 
commerce ; and the refuse after the oil is secured, 
goes to enrich food for cattle. The thick fibrous 
coating of the nut takes on new form in ropes, cord- 
age, and brushes. 

The hollow leaves of its flower spathe yield a 
liquid which may be boiled down into sugar, or 
fermented and distilled into ^^ arrack/' a native drink, 
not without its intoxicating quality. The leaves 
themselves are plaited into baskets, fans, and vari- 
ous other articles. 

The cocoanut palm is a beautiful tree, with a 
straight cylindrical trunk about two feet in diameter, 
and attains a height of from sixty to one hundred feet. 



OTHER PRODUCTS OF FIJI. 35 

The leai, often fifteen feet in length, has a strong 
midrib, from which branch long, acute leaflets, giving 
the crown of the tree a magnificent appearance. The 
small white flowers are arranged in a long, branch- 
ing spike, wrapped in a hollow sheath. The fruit 
matures in bunches of ten to twenty nuts, which 
ripen at all times of the year, but require for the 
process, about twelve months after the blossoms falL 
The tree begins to bear from the fifth to the sev- 
enth year, and will grow and bear for sixty years 
or more. It perfects an average of about sixty nuts 
annually. A tree in perfect condition will mature 
one hundred nuts. The cocoanut tree reaches its 
highest vigor on the margin of the sea, exposed to 
an animating sea breeze, and in a bed of little else 
than coral sand. 

Like nearly everything else in the vegetable 
kingdom — because God has made so many things 
to live off others — the cocoanut tree has its enemies. 
In the island of Viti Levu particularly, a small 
caterpillar attaches itself to the under side of the 
beautiful leaves and feeds upon their tender parts. 
The result is, that the leaves are thereby weakened 
and are unable to perform their functions. Conse- 
quently, the tree, if it be not destroyed altogether, 
has less vitality, and can mature but little fruit, if, 
indeed, it bear at all. The worm has invaded other 
islands of the group, but in these parts its ravages 
are supposed to be kept in check by birds, which, 
in turn, prey upon it. A bird of Australia, the 



36 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

laughing jackass, is known to be an incorrigible 
foe to the insect, and a number have already been 
imported to help the noble tree fight its battle. 

The value of the lubricating oil mentioned, de- 
pends much upon success in drying the copra. 
The best copra makes the clearest and sweetest oil, 
and is obtained by drying the nut without breaking. 
For the purpose, the only requisite is a room or shed 
in which to stack the nuts. They must not be suf- 
fered to touch the ground, else they will not dry, 
but grow. So, they are piled upon a staging raised 
a trifle above the soil. The brown fibrous husk is 
not removed ; were it removed, the eye in the end 
of the nut would immediately be opened by a sort 
of cockroach, thirsting for the milk inside. Thus 
air, too, would be admitted, and the kernel would 
begin to decay. With the nuts unpeeled and kept 
off the ground, the milk is evaporated in three 
months, and the kernel has a consistency like 
leather. In this state it will keep forever, unaffected 
by climate, moisture, or any other cause. 

Another mode of drying, places the nuts in the 
sun. The copra thus made may be good, but never 
equal to that dried under shelter, simply because 
the water is expelled too rapidly, and the kernel is 
dried too suddenly, for the highest keeping quality, 
even with the nuts left whole. But the usual mode 
is to remove the coat, break the nut in halves, 
throw out the water, and lay the pieces in the sun 
— =on the coral beach most frequently. In fine 



OTHER PRODUCTS OF FIJI. 3/ 

weather, three days will accomplish the drying; 
but each night the fruit must be taken in and cov- 
ered, and under no circumstances must it be ex- 
posed to a shower, as copra once wet is sure to* 
mold. 

A very singular fact in connection with the mak- 
ing of copra is this : Sometimes, when a quantity is 
in process of sun-drying, there occurs a season of 
damp, cloudy weather, which never fails to create 
mischief. To counteract this, the copra is placed 
on stages, under which fires are built, to facilitate 
the curing. Invariably in such cases the fruit 
breeds animalculae, which, within a few. months, 
will entirely consume it, together with any sound 
stock in the neighborhood. 

One of the most astonishing facts connected with 
cocoanut life is the ability of the tree to reproduce 
itself. If the nuts be kept long, after full ripening, 
there forms in the inside, a white, sweet, spongy 
substance, at the inner end of the germ which lies 
opposite the three eyes, or apertures, in the sharp- 
est end of the kernel, the rounder end being at- 
tached to the stalk. In time, this sponge-like matter 
absorbs the milk and fills the cavity. It then dis- 
solves the solid kernel and combines it with its own 
substance. And finally the shell, instead of inclos- 
ing the kernel and its milk, embraces only a soft 
cellular mass. Now, while this wonderful opera- 
tion is going on within the nut, there shoots forth, 
through one of the eyes in the shell, a single bud. 



38 THE FIJI And sAmoan groups. 

white in color, hard of texture. Advancing, it per- 
forates the tough fibrous husk, rises some distance 
into the air, and then begins to unfold, light pale 
green leaves. Now, marvelous to relate, two thick 
white fibers, originating at the same point with the 
bud, begin to push away the stoppers from the 
other two eyes of the shell. They pierce the brown 
husk opposite the point where the bud went out, 
and begin to grow downward. In a little while 
they enter the ground, and quickly roots begin to 
form. The shell, too hard for knife to cut, and 
almost for saw to divide, will now, by an expan- 
sive power, produced within itself, burst asunder, 
and both husk and shell will gradually decay, form- 
ing a gentle manure for the nourishment of the 
new plant, which, still obeying the unseen laws that 
gave it being, strikes its roots deeper, and elevates 
its feathery crown, until it becomes an elegant and 
graceful tree, and a source of manifold blessing to 
man. 

We can hardly dismiss the cocoanut tree with- 
out calling attention to the singular fibrous struct- 
ure attached to the bark, at the foot of the leaf-stalk, 
and extending half way around the trunk, as well 
as two or three feet up the leaf, thus forming a 
bracing net-work for the support of the leaf, and 
holding it steadily to the trunk. In young trees 
this fabric is very white, transparent, and, in texture, 
as fine as silver paper. Sometimes two layers of 
the fibers cross each other and are cemented to- 



OTHER PRODUCTS OF FIJI. 39 

gether by a peculiar adhesive substance. The 
length and evenness of the threads, their crossing 
at regular oblique angles, the thickness of the 
material, its extent of surface, and the curious man- 
ner in which the fibers are joined, give the texture 
a marked resemblance to cloth woven in looms. 
For this natural fabric the Fijians find many uses, 
as do the natives of other groups. In days gone 
by, the artless Society Islanders made shirts, coats, 
and jackets from this material. 

We notice briefly one more interesting product 
of the Fijian forest. This is the candlenut, or 
Lauci tree, an object of notice anywhere on account 
of a white powder covering its leaves and young 
shoots. It is called the candlenut tree because 
the kernels of the nuts, threaded on a bit of split 
cane, or on the midrib of the palm leaf, are fre- 
quently substituted for candles. Fishermen, also, 
use them for light upon the sea at night. The 
fruit consists of a kernel within a hard shell like 
the cocoanut. The kernel adheres to the shell 
tenaciously, rendering it difficult to handle the prod- 
uct commercially. A pressure of twenty horse- 
power will extract from the nut sixty per cent of 
oil of fine quality. From the burnt shell is manu- 
factured a kind of lamp-black, which, in Tahiti, is 
used for tatooing, and in Fiji for putting on war- 
paint, and printing patterns on tappa, the native 
cloth. In some parts of Fiji, the moment a baby is 
born, out rushes the nurse to the nearest Lauci 



40 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

tree, plucks one of its fresh nuts, and squeezes the 
oil into the little stranger's throat, to enable him 
the more effectually to announce his arrival. This 
tree is common not only in the South Pacific, but 
in India, Central America, and the Molucca Islands. 
The nuts are edible, but eaten too freely are intoxi- 
cating. 

Fibrous growths in Fiji are legion. Among 
them are plantains, a multitude. A variety found 
in every valley, elevated a few hundrd feet above 
the sea, is said to be identical with that of the Phil- 
ippine Islands from which manilla hemp is obtained. 

Another sort, named Vundi Vula — white plant- 
ains — yields a clear, strong, white hemp, valued 
very highly. The hemp is obtained from the trunk, 
while the petioles of its leaves furnish a fiber so fine 
that the most delicate muslins may be woven of it. 
The preparation of these fibers by hand is a tedious 
and difficult process, and until the work can be per- 
formed by machinery, large exportation of them is 
impossible. The pineapple, and also the yaka, 
produce hemp fibers. 

But among fibrous plants, the palm is due to the 
sea-island cotton, an article known to the world for 
its beauty. It secured gold medals at the centen- 
nial in Philadelphia, and at Paris two years later. 
Five thousand acres were in cotton in Fiji in 1882. 



CHAPTER. VI. 

CORAL FORMATIONS OF THE PACIFIC. 



^/>. 




HE reader cannot have forgotten that we are 
in coral land, for in his ears have rung con- 
\^^^ stantly the terms, '' barrier-reefs," '' fring- 
ing-reefs," '' coral-sand," and much else of the like. 
He must naturally feel some curiosity in regard to 
the oft-mentioned subject. Therefore we improve 
a leisure hour to acquaint ourselves with these 
wonderful formations in the South Pacific. 

The coral structures of the South Sea groups are 
the remarkable work of a minute aquatic — or water 
— animal, called polyparia. The body of the little 
being is usually round, Avith the mouth at one 
end, encircled with one or more series of tentacles. 
The polyp absorbs from the sea for its sustenance 
a great quantity of calcareous, or lime, matter, 
and constantly excretes this upon the bed of the 
ocean. Finally each little worker dies, but the 
shell it inhabited remains among the secretions. 
We suppose myraids of them are constantly dying. 
Therefore from their remains and their secretions, 
the bed of the ocean is ever receiving considerable 
additions. We know% too, that the skeletons — 
limy remains — of fishes also contribute to the ac- 
cumulation. Thus, as the centuries roll away, are 
reared up, or rather settled down — for the work of 

(41) 



CORAL FORMATIONS OF THE PACIFIC. 43 

the coral-builder is all done at a depth of not more 
than one hundred and twenty-five feet, and in water 
at a temperature not lower than sixty-eight degrees 
— islands and reefs many thousand square miles in 
extent. 

Chemically, it is said, the coral reef consists al- 
most entirely of carbonate of lime, in fact, is identi- 
cal with ordinary limestone. And it is worthy of 
remark, that the ocean in the vicinity of the coral 
structures is deficient in lime salts, that element 
being constantly subtracted by the corallaria for 
the work of building. But observe, now, how the 
work of replenishing the ocean with these salts 
goes on. The broad currents of the sea, laden 
with calcareous matter from afar, are ever arriving 
over the coral beds, bringing fresh supplies. Thus 
is the " great and mighty sea " laid under tribute 
for the support of the infinitesimal polyp. 

Some species of corallaria are compound, and 
capable of increasing to any extent. Some resem- 
ble leafless plants, and, indeed, are animals growing 
in plant-like form. 

The distribution of the reef coral seems to depend 
upon the winter temperature of the ocean. They 
are not found in water colder than sixty-eight de- 
grees. A distance of one thousand eight hun- 
dred miles either side of the equator limits their 
labors. And even within this boundary, no coral 
structures are found on the western coast of Africa, 
nor of South America. The paradise of the reef- 
builders is the Central Pacific Ocean. 



44 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

Of the coral reefs there are three varieties, called, 
respectively, fringing-reefs, barrier-reefs, and atolls. 
Fringing- reefs are shallow-water reefs, reared next 
the land. Usually between them and the shore 
no deep water lies. 

Barrier-reefs, like fringing-reefs, may encircle isl- 
ands, or skirt the coasts of continents, but they are 
placed at a greater distance from the land, and 
between them and the shore deep-water channels 
intervene. Also,' soundings taken near their sea- 
ward brink reveal profound depths of water, while 
soundings made near their landward verge show 
that they rest on a shelving bottom. 

The most notable barrier-reefs on the globe are 
those which form the barrier on the southeast coast 
of Australia. They extend, with occasional open- 
ings, a distance of over one thousand miles, and at 
an average distance from the shore of twenty or 
thirty miles. The barrier is formed of a series of 
reefs with channels between them. The depth of 
the innermost channel, next the shore, varies 
from ten to sixty fathoms, while soundings at the 
outer verge of the entire reef give a depth of over 
one thousand feet. 

Atolls are ring-reefs, oval or circular in form, and 
inclose a portion of the sea called a lagoon. Occa- 
sionally the ring is completed, but usually it is 
broken by one or more openings, and these always 
occur on the leeward or sheltered side of the atoll. 
In their formation, atolls are identical with encir- 



CORAL FORMATIONS OF THE PACIFIC. 



45 



cling barrier-reefs, differing from them only in the 
fact that the lagoon they inclose contains no island 
in the center. The extreme outward margin of the 




ATOLL, OR RING-REEF. 

atoll is the only part actually composed of living 
corallaria. 

No coral-reef can begin to be formed on a sea 
bottom, covered by more than thirty fathoms of 
water. Still, barrier-reefs and atolls rise out of 
depths of from one hundred to one thousand fath- 
oms. The profound researches of Mr. Darwin 
furnish a complete explanation of this apparent con- 
tradiction of facts. He has shown that the coral 
polyp works only upward; that it must have an 
abundance of pure aerated water; and that it flour- 
ishes in highest vigor on the extreme outer edge, 
and on the windward side of a reef, because on that 
side it receives its fresh supplies of lime-salts. These 
facts prove, beyond doubt, that the foundations on 
which the coral structures rest have long and 



46 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

slowly been sinking into the depths of the ocean, 
instead of the structures rising from these depths. 
With the subsidence of these masses in the South 
Pacific, comes corresponding elevation of other 
parts of the globe, notably the western coast of 
South America, which forms the greatest volcanic 
chain in the world. 

It has been observed that when submarine vol- 
canoes are active, there sometimes follows a vast 
uplifting of the water, called a tidal wave, caused by 
a tremendous heaving of the bed of the ocean. 
This elevation of the foundations of the sea is felt 
all over the Pacific waters, north and south, east 
and west. Some of the atolls are demolished by it, 
and the fringed-reef islands are affected, while those 
defended by barrier-reefs are scarcely disturbed. 
One traveler writes that while sailing among the 
Fiji group, in May, 1877, a mighty tidal wave 
occurred, which swept away thousands of people 
on the atoll islands of the region, and caused great 
havoc among those protected by fringed reefs only. 
Some islands disappeared altogether. The same 
tidal wave struck with terrible destruction the west- 
ern coast of South America. But in the Fiji group, 
particularly, the only effect was an unusually high 
tide, while in the Navigators' group, six hundred 
and thirty miles distant, the sea was covered with 
pumice-stone thrown up. 

Fiji illustrates all the coral structures. The island 
of Koro has a fringing-reef, except on its western - 



CORAL FORMATIONS OF THE PACIFIC. 4/ 

Side. Angau is encircled by a barrier-reef, which 
on two sides runs far from shore. The Argo reef 
forms an island twenty miles long, with a large 
lagoon in the center. It is a pleasing circumstance 
in connection with reef-building, that most of them 
have openings through which ocean craft may 
come and go, and that these apertures are almost 
always opposite valleys, down which flow streams 
of fresh water from the mountains. Moreover, 
near these breaches in the reefs, there grow, 
oftentimes, stately cocoanut trees, which serve as 
signals to guide fishermen into these fresh-water 
havens. 

A beautiful sight to be witnessed at many points 
in the South Pacific is the dashing of the long lines 
of roaring billows upon the reefs. Approaching, 
they rise into lofty liquid arches, pause an instant 
in the radiant sunlight, and then, with loud and 
angry roar, go down before the coral obstruction, 
only to give place to another and another of the 
same gleaming, graceful formations. 




CHAPTER VIL 

A CANNIBAL OUTBREAK. 

N 1876, two years after England assumed 
sovereignty over Fiji, there occurred, in 
the island of Viti Levu, a fierce insurrection 
of certain cannibal tribes in the interior. Eager for 
a taste of human flesh, they had for some time been 
ready and anxious to dash down upon the unarmed 
Christians of the coast, to provide themselves mate- 
rial for their horrible man-eating feasts. 

Receiving intimation of their intent, the gov- 
ernor, Sir Arthur Gordon, dispatched a commis- 
sioner to their district, to inquire into the matter. 
Mr. Carew learned that the wild highlanders be- 
lieved that the measles epidemic, which, early in 
1835, had swept away thousands of the native popu- 
lation, together with many white people, was a pun- 
ishment sent by their gods, because so many of the 
Fijians had renounced their religion and embraced 
Christianity, and that it was evident an outbreak 
was imminent. It appeared that a native missionary, 
whether Wesleyan or Catholic we do not know, 
was urging Christianity among them against their 
wishes. Very wisely, Mr. Carew directed this mis- 
sionary to leave the highlanders to themselves for a 
while, informing him that the English Government 
(48) 



50 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

expressly forbade any such attempts, but insisting 
that the tribes should obey the laws. He explained 
the supremacy of the English queen, and added em- 
phasis to that, by saying that it would be easier to 
attempt to resist the mighty breakers on the shore 
than to baffle in any degree the kindly designs of 
the government toward the people. 

Returning, Mr. Carew suggested to His Excel- 
lency a meeting of the cannibal chiefs, at which 
himself should preside, in the belief that a complete 
adjustment of the trouble might be effected. The 
advice was accepted ; on January 5, 1876, the hostile 
leaders were convened, and the governor delivered a 
strong address, warning them of the sure conse- 
quences of revolt. All availed nothing. They 
could not, and would not, allow their island to be 
ceded to a Christian queen. They regarded with 
perfect contempt those natives who had become 
converted. They had been accustomed to sweep 
down upon the Christian villages, and, after murder- 
ing those who resisted, had imprisoned the re- 
mainder, reserving them for their cannibal carousals. 
They believed that under a Christian monarch 
Christians would certainly acquire control, and to 
the mountaineers this was gall and wormwood. 
So, with the spirit of liberty strong within them, 
they would resist. 

In Viti Levu, the native Christian settlements ex- 
tend from the coast far toward the mountains, and 
there are many localities where these and those of 



A CANNIBAL OUTBREAK. 5 I 

the devoted devil-worshipers infringe upon each 
other. Sometimes the Hne of separation dips deeply 
toward the coast, sometimes it stretches up toward 
the mist-crowned peaks dimly seen as one sails 
along the shore. Not all the mountain people 
are cannibals, however ; nor are all the towns of the 
plain Christian; nor, in this case, were all the canni- 
bal towns disaffected. But this overlapping of ter- 
ritory had for years rendered it easy for the scorn- 
ful man-eaters to capture victims for their brutal 
orgies. And not a few of Her Majesty's Fijian sub- 
jects have in a sense yielded up their lives for the 
sake of Christianity. 

But the insurrection went on. The chiefs, with 
their retainers, swept around a strong camp of 
armed police stationed in the region, and, descend- 
ing the Sigatoka River, attacked and burned several 
towns especially odious to them, slaying many in- 
nocent women and children, after a brave defense. 
The great chiefs of Viti Levu, anxious to show 
Governor Gordon their friendly spirit, now rallied 
their men and drove the insurgents back upon the 
police force near the hills, where, in two conflicts, 
they were seriously punished. This was in April. 
In May they suffered a more decisive overthrow. 
Once more Governor Gordon invited them to an in- 
terview. This was held at the fortified town, Nas- 
aucoko, situated in a fine elevated valley, lined 
around with mountain peaks, from fifteen hundred 
to two thousand feet above sea level. 



52 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

At the conference, certain particular chiefs an- 
nounced that they had confidence in the govern- 
ment, and intended to remain quiet. At this junct- 
ure, Mudu, chief of the QuaH Mari tribe, declared 
himself to be of a different mind. He hated Chris- 
tianity, and hated the government, and he had at- 
tended the meeting only in the hope that Kolikoli 
had called them together to concert for an imme- 
diate attack on the Christian camp at Nasaucoko. 
Upon another chief taking the same position, the 
meeting broke up in confusion. 

Sir Arthur then returned to Nadi, on the west 
coast of Viti Levu, and thence went a three days' 
journey to Cuvu, in the southeast. While on 
the way, a village was burned, about a mile from 
where the governor and his party were taking sup- 
per, thus opening the rebellion in earnest. Now 
promptly did the executive call upon the great 
chiefs to bring forth their men for war. Pleased 
with his confidence, they came from every quarter, 
some from a distance of one hundred and fifty miles 
by sea, and soon three forces were ready for the 
field. 

To exaggerate the difficulties of the Fijian Gov- 
ernment at this time would scarcely be possible. 
It had neither troops nor ships of war. For arms, 
the colony possessed only a few rifles, with some 
hundreds of old flint-locks and percussion Enfields. 
The New Zealand authorities, learning of the emer- 
gency, promptly came to the rescue, with a few 



A CANNIBAL OUTBREAK. 53 

dozen Sniders, which were turned to the best possi- 
ble account. And now appeared the wisdom of 
Sir Arthur's '^ native poHcy." The men required 
to quell the insurgents were called out by their 
chiefs, who led them, fed them, and manipulated 
them in native fashion, while the chiefs themselves 
were counseled and directed by the English offi- 
cers. 

The mountaineers were found in force at a vil- 
lage some fourteen miles from the town of Sigatoka. 
Before their stronghold was attacked, two brisk 
skirmishes took place, in both of which the canni- 
bals were quickly driven back. Their village fort 
was now soon taken, whereupon they retired to 
their great stronghold, Montanivatu, located on a 
high rock densely covered with wood. The place 
was regarded as impregnable, for Fijian skill had 
most ably supplemented nature in strengthening the 
position. The firing of the Sniders, however, was 
too much for cannibal courage, particularly as the 
defenders were armed only with old breech-loading 
muskets. There occurred a brief hand-to-hand 
struggle, in which the formidable Fiji club played 
a conspicuous part, when the rock was scaled 
and the defense taken. Many prisoners were 
captured, and about fifty of the disaffected Avere 
slain; but the main body fled to other towns of the 
district. However, being promptly pursued, the 
most of them either surrendered to the Prince of 
Beimau, or were captured. Among the latter were 



54 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

the principal revolting chiefs, and also the leaders 
in the bloody attack on the Christian towns of 
Sigatoka River. 

A portion of the prisoners were removed to the 
coast, while others were taken down the Sigatoka 
to the town of that name, and lodged in the '' Bure," 
or devil-temple, still preserved in that village. As 
the insurgents filed in, with hands bound and count- 
enances dejected, they appeared little like the 
•proud Quali Mari of the hills. Their hair, in war- 
time massed up in stiff locks to give their heads a 
lion-like appearance, had been cut off, entirely 
changing their aspect. Their wives and children, 
bearing their household goods upon their backs, 
followed, with the native women who had attended 
the government force. All went to the same vil- 
lages. No taunts were uttered, and no cruelty was 
shown to the prisoners or to their women. And 
they were cared for in the homes of the conquerors 
until the governor decided to let them return to the 
mountains. 

A different fate awaited the murderers of the 
peaceful Sigatoka women and children. Thirty of 
them were tried before the deputy commissioner of 
Viti Levu, and found guilty of murder. The pass- 
ing of sentence upon them being left to the governor, 
he decreed that fourteen only should suffer death, 
four by hanging, ten by shooting. 

A second force of the cannibals, being hotly fol- 
lowed up by government troops, took shelter in a 



A CANNIBAL OUTBREAK. 55 

series of caves in the hills, where, completely 
hemmed in, they were induced to surrender. This 
ended the conflict. Peace has reigned in Viti Levu 
ever since, and it is quite certain there will never be 
another cannibal outbreak in Her Majesty's new 
crown-colony. 

One of the towns in the Sigatoka district had 
never been captured in any of the tribal fights, and 
was regarded by the cannibals as a sacred place. 
But now, when surrounded by the government 
force, the devil-worshipers consulted their chief 
priest as to the meaning of affairs. To his dispirited 
followers, he announced, from the top of a lofty 
rock, in the quiet of evening, the answer of the ora- 
cle, which was, ^' My house is not accustomed to be 
burned." 

Friends and foes alike heard his words. And 
scarcely had his tones died away when there 
arose from the Christians surrounding the rock a 
great cry of, '' Wait until to-morrow." The unex- 
pected response seemed to strike terror into both 
priest and people, for during the night they evacu- 
ated the town, and on the morrow the devil-temple 
was committed to the flames. 

Two singular, because very opposite, scenes are 
presented before an army in Fiji, just prior to bat- 
tle. First, the chiefs invariably harangue their 
men in vigorous and eloquent terms. They walk 
in front of the lines, taunting and beseeching them, 
breaking out into tremendous leaps and bounds, 



56 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

expressive of the activity they themselves intend to 
display, and inciting their followers to copy their 
example. This may be regarded, says one writer, 
as an appeal to the old savage nature, for when it 
is ended there occurs a better ceremony. A Chris- 
tian teacher comes forward. All the troops kneel 
down with their faces to the earth. Then he pours 
forth a prayer for their success in battle. Some 
of these teachers — native teachers, no doubt — are 
not slow, it is said, to shoulder a rifle and go forth 
to conflict, and when it is over, some of them have 
to be reminded — by the English officers, probably 
— ^that their special duty is to care for the wounded 
and prevent cruelty to the vanquished. 

Do not these observances before battle afford us 
an instance of what the author of ''Coral Lands'' 
considers the "wise fitting of the good things of the 
old heathenism" of the Fijians into the Christian 
ceremonies? If the prayers of the Christian teach- 
ers had as little effect upon the rank and file, dur- 
ing that short war, as they evidently had upon 
themselves, they were an idle ceremony, and the 
harangues of the chiefs answered every purpose. 

It is related that Deputy Commissioner Gordon, 
who took the town of Bukutia, in which occurred 
the burning of the devil-temple just mentioned, had 
to set these native teachers an example of compas- 
sion, which, at first, they could scarcely compre- 
hend. A little babe being carried upon its mother's 
back during the fight of the cannibals, was shot by 



A CANNIBAL OUTBREAK. 5/ 

someone, the ball glancing across the child^s stom- 
ach. The mother, supposing it to be dead, threw 
it down in her haste. Later, it was found to be 
alive, and the utmost care was taken of it. Finally 
the little thing fell asleep, and was tenderly wrapped 
in Mr. Gordon's cloak. The cannibals, however, 
failed to exhibit like humanity, for, having captured 
a teacher belonging to the British force, who, being 
short-sighted, inadvertantly walked into the rebel 
camp, they carried him off, killed, and ate him. 
His bones were found when the place was taken, 
shortly afterward. 

The surrender of the cannibal chiefs was con- 
sidered an event of importance second only to that 
of annexation, because it promised that cannibalism, 
infanticide, and club-law had ceased. To account 
for cannibalism has ever been an interesting ques- 
tion to travelers in the South Seas. Some reasons 
for it can certainly be assigned. The prime one 
was the scarcity of animal food before the entrance 
of Europeans. Poultry, pigs, and sorhe other ani- 
mals, now found there, are not indigenous to the isl- 
ands. As a rule, the common people are forced 
vegetarians, and frequently tire of their diet, al- 
though the coast tribes sometimes vary their bill 
of fare with fish, and the hill tribes with snakes. 
The people say: "We eat yams until we are tired, 
and yet we are kusima [hungry for flesh] ; but if 
we eat flesh, fish, or fowl, we are satisfied." In the 
M'bau dialect, there are four or five words which 



58 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

Signify hunger. This would indicate that famine 
must often have prevailed, since no M'bauan ever 
went hungry while other tribes had food which he 
could steal. 

Possibly, too, cannibalism may have grown out of 
the belief, prevalent in Fiji, that by eating an enemy 
they absorbed his good qualities, if he was known 
to have any. Fijian mothers used, says Mr. Whet- 
ham, to rub the lips of their infants with the flesh of 
dead enemies who had been celebrated as heroes, 
believing that their courage would thus pass into 
their children, bravery being a quality the Fijian 
estimates highly. 

A third theory presents religious duty, mingled 
with superstition, as the motive. Persons cast upon 
their islands by shipwreck, especially during famine, 
were considered a gift from the gods, and not to eat 
them was an act of impiety. But even if arriving 
in a time of plenty, still must they be eaten, since 
their very misfortune was evidence that they had 
provoked the anger of the gods. The fact, too, that 
all the implements used in the horrible ceremony 
were sacred and devoted to that one purpose only, 
would ascribe the custom to religion. Lastly, the 
root of cannibalism may have been a thirst for 
revenge. To kill an enemy was not sufficient ; he 
must also be disgraced. Eating him humiliated 
not only himself but his entire tribe. And yet, 
paradoxical enough, there was one humiliation for 
a vanquished foe, greater than that of eating him. 



A CANNIBAL OUTBREAK. 59 

That was the refusing to eat him. To cut up the 
body of an enemy, and throw the pieces away, as 
though it were not worth the trouble to cook him, 
was a token of undying hatred. Further still, it 
was the very height of revenge and insult, if he were 
cooked and then left in the oven, — a thing too 
loathsome to be touched. 

Mr. Whetham relates that a young man belong- 
ing to one of the slave tribes of Fiji, asked one of 
his conquerors one day, who had eaten hundreds 
of men, if human flesh were really so delicious. 
The confirmed old man-eater replied, *^ Only be- 
cause your chiefs have compassion on you^ do you 
live." The traveler goes on, also, to give his im- 
pressions of the first real cannibal he ever saw: 
'' He was very tall, and, if such a thing can be said 
of a black man, pale-looking. The eyes, the most 
remarkable feature of his face, were cold and glitter- 
ing, with a far-off, stony look that was very pecul- 
iar. Poet-like, he always appeared to be thinking 
of something else, yet his gaze was the most unpo- 
etical imaginable. He never smiled, not even when, 
pinching my arm, he expressed his sentiments to- 
ward me, but his eyes said all that was necessary." 

And now it is Toussenel who says : " Let us pity 
the poor cannibal, and not blame him too severely. 
We, who boast of our refined. Christian civilization, 
murder men by tens of thousands from motives far 
less excusable than hunger. The crime lies, not in 
roasting our dead enemy, but in killing him when 
he wishes to live." 




CHAPTER VIII. 

FIJIAN TRADITIONS. 

LEGEND, handed down from time beyond 
memory, pertains among the Fijians, which 
certainly has reference to the deluge, as 
have others to events in Jewish history. 
They relate that once, in ages far past, the sea 
came, suddenly, right over the land (Na Viti Levu), 
drowning all the inhabitants except a very small 
number, who escaped in a great canoe, and a few 
others who were gathering yaka — a fibrous plant 
from which the strongest fishing nets are made — 
on a high peak which the water did not cover. 
The canoe, they hold, had been built on an eleva- 
tion far back from shore, but for what reason the 
legend does not state. When the inundation oc- 
curred, the fortunate men and women who were 
saved, got into and launched it, crushing several 
others in its descent. At one time it was a Fijian 
custom to launch a chiefs canoe over prostrate hu- 
man bodies. May not this custom have some re- 
lation to the crushing of men and women under the 
'^ great canoe"? Or has it reference to the passage 
of the great car of Juggernaut over its victims ? 

But the tradition continues : The women and 
children who were gathering yaka were reduced to 
great straits, having only salt water to drink ; but 
(60) 



FIJIAN TRADITIONS. 6l 

when at the last extremity, there appeared one who 
commanded them to follow him, and led them to a 
rock, which he smote with his stick, when out of it 
immediately flowed good water. Here the analogy 
to Moses and his rod is most evident. Finally, 
when the vast waters subsided, there were few peo- 
ple left to repopulate the land, and of animals, only 
the few little ones Fiji now has. 

Benga, an island to the south of Viti Levu,is be- 
lieved to be the place where the eight survivors of 
the flood landed. And tradition claims that upon 
Benga, the chief god, Udengi, first made his appear- 
ance. In virtue of that, the chiefs of that island 
take precedence of all other Fijian worthies. 

Their idea of the creation is, that all men are de- 
scended from one parentage, the first-born being a 
Fijian; but most unluckily he misbehaved sadly, 
and thereafter found himself black, and with but little 
clothing. The next on the scene was the Tongan, 
possessed of better principles and consequently of a 
fairer complexion, and more clothing. Here, un- 
doubtedly, there is an allusion to Cain and Abel, 
the ill-doing of the former, at whose door sin lay, 
and the upright life of the latter, to whose offering 
God had respect. But after the Tongan — natives 
of the Tonga Islands, east of Fiji, a remarkably in- 
telligent race^ — were born the Papalagis, or white 
men, who did not sin, and therefore were ''quite 
white, and were provided with many clothes." 

The Fijian has long firmly believed in a future 



62 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

state, where the time would be spent in saiHng, 
practicing at arms and amusements, and where all 
the fruits would abound. Their list of principal 
deities, or spirits, numbered ten or twelve, and the 
character attributed to them must have had little 
elevating influence upon their worshipers. One 
had eight arms, indicating mechanical skill ; another 
had as many eyes, denoting wisdom; a third spat 
miracles; a fourth was miserably conditioned, being 
a leper. Then came one of epicurean tastes. He 
was fond of human brains., and, to gratify his appe- 
tite, large slaughters of the race sometimes took 
place. After these followed a long train of demi- 
gods, each commissioned with some specialty for 
or against mankind. True idolaters the Fijians 
never were, though they believed that certain trees, 
stones, birds, and fishes were the abodes of their 
deities, and therefore venerated these objects. 

Mr. Cooper tells us that the rite of circumcision 
was once practiced among them, and says, *' The 
custom supports the theory of a Jewish origin for 
the nation." It may be added that several times 
during this narrative we have mentioned usages as 
prevailing among the Fijians which point strongly 
to either a descent from the ancient Hebrew people, 
or to very close territorial relationship, with the ex- 
ercise of vigorous Hebrew influence. Their laws 
regulating the allotment and alienation of the family 
lands, mentioned in a preceding chapter, may be 
. cited as an instance. 



FIJIAN TRADITIONS. 63 

Their peace-offering ritual, though complicated, 
was certainly very interesting, and many times 
availed to save life. The custom is now said to be 
dying out, both Catholic and Protestant missiona- 
ries having discountenanced it for years, on the 
ground that it had degenerated into a means of 
corruption to those whose favor was sought, rather 
than to signify the contrition of one who had of- 
fended. There was, first, the offering of a whale's 
tooth, always a propitiatory act, which availed for 
any offense, from stealing a yam to running away 
with a chiefs wife. Second, there was the offering 
of a reed, more humiliating than the preceding, but 
itself far surpassed by that of a spear, which was 
offered with such an attitude of contrition and hu- 
miliation as to convey the idea that the suppliant 
deserved to be transfixed by a spear. The third 
offering was connected with war, and signified the 
cession of land or other property. Fourth, we have 
the presentation of ashes, but only in cases involv- 
ing life. In this instance, the chief of the offender 
covers his own arms and breasts with ashes, and, 
with an air of profoundest abasement, entreats 
the life of the wrong-doer. Theoretically, and no 
doubt actually, there was much that was right in 
these ceremonies ; but if now the freer forgiveness 
enjoined by the gospel has really superseded the 
perhaps reluctant pardon in old Fijian hearts, we 
may readily let the ancient rites pass away. And 
the more effectually the one does supersede the 
other, the better. 




f 



CHAPTER IX. 

PAST AND PRESENT FUNERAL RITES. 

DESCRIPTION of two funeral ceremonies 
^/^ which took place in Fip;i — Island of Taviuni 

— thirty-four years apart, will give our read- 
ers a good idea of the old pre-missionary ritual, and 
of the current Catholic rite, with the '' good things 
of the old heathenism carefully fitted into it/' *'A 
glorious contrast," remarks a writer, who himself 
was in Figi but two years prior to the last observ- 
ance we portray. 

From the Rev. Mr. Williams' minute account of 
the death and funeral of the Tui Cakau, king of 
Somo-Somo, Taviuni, of which he was an unwilling 
witness, we condense what we present you : '' On 
being told, in the morning of August 24, that the 
king was dead, and that preparations were making 
for his interment, I could scarcely credit the report ; 
but the ominous word 'preparing,' caused my 
immediate departure for the place. Yet my utmost 
speed failed to bring me to his house in time. I 
was too late to prevent death, so far as two women 
were concerned. The effect of the scene was over- 
whelming. Scores of deliberate murderers sur- 
rounded me. There was no confusion, no noise, 
only an unearthly, horrid stillness. Nature seemed 
to lend ker aid to increase the dreadful effect. Not 
(64) 



PAST AND PRESENT FUNERAL RITES. 65 

a breath of air was stirring. The half-subdued 
light in the hall of death revealed every object with 
great distinctness. Everything was as motionless 
as sculpture, and there came over me the feeling 
that I myself was turning into a statue. To speak 
was impossible. I was unconscious that I breathed, 
and, against my will, I sank upon the floor, assum- 
ing the cowering posture of those who were not 
actually engaged in murder. I had happened to 
arrive during a hush, just at the crisis of death, 
and to that strange silence must be attributed my 
intense emotions ; for, in fact, I was but too familiar 
with murders of this description. 

'' Occupying the middle of the large room were 
two groups on the floor, the central figure of each 
group being hidden by a large veil and supported 
in a sitting posture by several women. On either 
side of each veiled figure were eight or ten strong 
men, pulling in opposite directions on a white cord 
passed twice around the neck of the doomed one, 
who in a few minutes ceased to live. When my 
self-command began to return, the party farthest 
from me began to stir. The men slackened their 
hold, and the attendant women removed the heavy 
veiling, and made it into a couch for the poor victim. 

"As the veil was lifted, some of the men present 
beheld the distorted features of a mother, in whose 
murder they had taken part, and smiled with satis- 
faction, as her body was laid out for decoration. 
Convulsive struggles on the part of the other poor 

5 



66 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

creature near me showed that she still lived. She 
was a stout woman, and some of the executioners 
jocosely Invited those sitting near to. have pity and 
help them. At length the attending women said, 
'She is cold.' Then the fatal cord fell, and I saw 
that the obedient wife and unwearied attendant of 
the old king had been put to death. 

'' Leaving the women to adjust her hair, oil her 
body, cover her face with vermilion, and adorn her 
with flowers, I passed on to see the remains of the 
deceased Tui Cakau. To my astonishment I found 
him alive. He was weak, but quite conscious, and 
when he coughed, placed his hand upon his side as 
if in pain. Yet his chief wife and a male attendant 
were covering him with a thick coat of black pow- 
der, and were tying around his arms and legs a 
number of white scarfs fastened with rosettes, the 
long ends hanging by his side. A scarlet handker- 
chief, secured by a chaplet of small white coweries, 
turbaned his head. On his arms were circlets of 
the same shells. On his neck was an ivory neck- 
lace, made of long curved points. To complete 
his royal attire they had clothed him with a large 
new masi, the train of which was laid in a number 
of folds at his feet. No one displayed any real 
grief. This had given way to show and ceremony. 
The whole scene was a cruel mockery; a terrible 
tragedy; a masquerading of death; a decking, as if 
for the dance, of bodies intended for the grave. 

*' I had come hurriedly to ask the young king for 



PAST AND PRESENT FUNERAL RITES. 6/ 

the life of the women. It now seemed my duty to 
demand that of his father. Yet, should I be suc- 
cessful, it would cause other murders when he 
should really pass away. Perplexed in thought, in 
deep gloom of mind, feeling my blood curdle, and 
the hair of my flesh stand up, I approached the 
young king with a feeling of abhorrence. He ap- 
peared greatly moved, put his arm around and em- 
braced me, saying, ^ See ! the father of us two is 
dead.' This was uttered before I could speak. 
^ Dead ! ' I finally exclaimed in a tone of great sur- 
prise — ^Dead! No!' *Yes, yes,' he answered; 
^ his spirit is gone. You see his body move, but that 
he does unconsciously.' 

'^ Knowing that it would be useless to dispute the 
point, I then told him that the chief object of my- 
self and my colleague was to beg him to love us 
and prevent any more women being strangled, as he 
could render no benefit to his father by multiplying 
the dead. He replied : ' There are only two, but 
they shall suffice. Were not you missionaries 
here, we should make an end of all the women sit- 
ting around. Thereupon the queen, affecting great 
grief, exclaimed, ^ Why is it that I am not stran- 
gled ? ' The young king replied : ' There is no one 
present of sufficiently high authority to suffocate 
you.' 

"As preparations were now making to remove the 
bodies, we retired. In going out, I noticed an in- 
teresting-looking woman carrying a long bamboo, 



68 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

in the top of which was about a pint of water. As 
the dead bodies were carried out of one door, she 
poured this water on the threshold of the one op- 
posite. The bodies of the women were placed on 
either end of a canoe, while on the front deck lay 
the old king, attended by the queen and a servant, 
who kept the flies off him with a fan. Arrived at 
the grave, the shell ornaments were removed from 
his person; he was wrapped in mats, laid within 
the grave, and the earth heaped upon him. He was 
heard to cough after a considerable quantity had 
been thrown in." 

On the coast of Vanua Levu, right opposite, re- 
sides a family which enjoys the privilege of furnish- 
ing a hale man to be buried with the king of Fiji, 
that he may go before and restrain the Fijian Cer- 
berus. But on this great occasion no such man 
could be found. And the old chieftain was sent to 
meet the dangers of the gloomy path without even 
a club. 

Next day began the custom of fasting until 
evening. This fast is observed ten or twenty days. 
Many persons made themselves '' bald for the dead," 
some by removing the hair from the head only, 
others by trimming off the whiskers and beard as 
well. Women burnt their bodies^ and orders were 
given to amputate one hundred fingers, but for 
some reason the horrible proceeding ceased at sixty. 
Each finger was inserted in a split reed and placed 
along the eaves of Tui Cakau's house. All this was 
to manifest grief for departed royalty. 



PAST AND PRESENT FUNERAL RITES. 69 

But not even yet do the interesting demonstra- 
tions cease. A certain number of days are set apart 
for mourning for a dead chieftain. During this 
period the young men of the nation shout, dance, 
and otherwise make a general ado. The humbler 
class of women abstain from eating flesh or fish. 
For three months the chief wife of the departed 
does not touch food with her own hands. Miles of 
the coast are made sacred that none may fish there, 
and for a distance of six miles around, the nuts are 
consecrated. So, through privation, if in no other 
way, are, or were, the people of Fiji made sorry 
that a king had died. 

Besides all this, numerous observances take place 
at stated intervals after the real funeral rites, one of 
the prettiest of which is the procession of women, 
each bearing a green basket of white sand, which 
they strew over the grave of the chief, singing, as 
they do so, a responsive chant, whose effect is as 
agreeable as it is solemn. But the final ceremony 
is the accomplishing some great work in honor of 
the departed, as the building of a fine canoe, the 
weaving of a bale of cloth, or the making an im- 
mense ball of sennit, and giving to the completed 
work the name of the dead ruler. 

Many have been the instances in which numbers 
of women have been sacrificed at the death of a 
chief In 1839, at Namena, in Fiji, there occurred 
a great massacre of the people, by some hostile 
tribe, I believe. Thereupon eighty women were 



^O THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

strangled, to bear the spirits of their murdered hus- 
bands company. • Thus were there two massacres 
instead of one. When the Prince Ra Bithe, '' the 
pride of Somo-Somo," was lost at sea, seventeen of 
his wives were sacrificed for his benefit. And when 
that detestable man-eater, old king Tanoa, died, five 
of his wives were sent to minister to his wants in 
the supposed active future state of the Fijians. To 
prevent the latter barbarous step. Sir Everard Home, 
commander of Her Majesty's ship Calliope , lingered 
about the Fijian group three months, waiting for 
the old man's demise ; but as if not to be cheated 
of his proper honors, the noted cannibal lingered 
on the border of life until the Calliope was forced 
to leave. It has been said that Sir Everard Home 
would never suffer a cannibal to touch his quarter- 
deck, and that he steadily refused to give passage 
to one of King Cacobau's sons until positively 
assured that the young man had never tasted hu- 
man flesh. 

The funeral rites we have portrayed were held 
in 1845, ^^^ years after missionary influence began 
in Fiji. Shall we now study the other picture? 

On April 19, 1879, Tui Cakau, son of the prince 
at whose death-bed, or, rather, at whose burying 
alive, we have just been present, died, suddenly, on 
Taviuni. He had been on a visit to one of the 
neighboring islands, and upon his return complained 
of not feeling well, and, lying down for a little time, 
never rose again. He was one of the most power- 



PAST AND PRESENT FUNERAL RITES. 7 1 

ful chiefs of the islands, and his death was a great 
shock. Tui Cakau was also the son-in-law and ally 
of King Cacobau, and when a distinguished chief 
dies, it is customary for the king to attend his fu- 
neral. Therefore on this occasion King Cacobau 
and the two princes, Abel and Joseph, embarked 
for Taviuni on board Her Majesty's ship Cormorant, 
He was attended by his chaplain, native police 
magistrate, and other officials, and, being an aged 
man, made most of the journey lying on his couch- 
chair of cane, and endured the trip well. 

''Leaving Levuka," says the narrator, ''in the 
morning, we reached Taviuni at dusk, and anch- 
ored a short distance from shore, just abreast of 
the town of Somo-Somo. The first sound which 
reached our ears was a succession of curious noises 
from the shore. They were produced by blowing 
upon large conch-shells by the wives of the late 
chief. This performance proved to be not very 
gratifying to Prince Joseph, Cacobau's second son, 
who had received his education in Sidney, Aus- 
tralia, and spoke English very well. Nevertheless, 
he was compelled by etiquette to sleep on shore, in 
a house specially set apart for royalty. 

''Next day, with two friends, I landed to see 
something of the town and the island. The tem- 
perature was eighty-six degrees, so we strolled leis- 
urely about the place, and the first dwelling we 
entered was that of the late chief. It was really 
but a large barn, exquisitely thatched, put together 



72 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

remarkably well, and having four doors. The raft- 
ers were of bamboo, and the pillars supporting the 
sides, of cocoanut palm. Mats, woven of reeds, tap- 
estried the lower walls, while large pieces of tappa 
— native cloth — divided the interior into two apart- 
ments. In one of these lay the chief, in his coffin, 
wrapped in numerous mats. On the ground in the 
other, sat his principal wife, the daughter of King 
Cacobau, fanning herself She was a remarkably 
fine specimen of Fijian women, and, though she 
had been crying a good deal, looked really very 
nice. Her hair had just been cut off as a token of 
mourning, a step that detracted some from her 
beauty. 

'' Leaving the house of sorrow, we walked through 
the village, which stands in the midst of a large 
cocoanut grove, to witness the preparations for the 
feast of the morrow. Groups of natives were either 
scraping cocoanut to a powder, grating sugar-cane on 
old tin biscuit-boxes, dressing pigs, and preparing 
the holes in the ground for their roasting, or cutting 
the fins off turtles for cooking by the same mode. 
Also yams, taro, bread-fruit, and various plantains 
were in process of preparation. Troops of natives, 
marching in Indian file, were carrying these viands 
to the late chiefs house, to present them to his 
widow. Each tribe, both in Taviuni and the 
neighboring islands, contributed its quota. Within 
a short distance of the house of woe, the tribes 
halted, formed in a body, and marched to within 



PAST AND PRESENT FUNERAL RITES. 73 

twenty yards of the door, and sat down in a 
circle on the ground, with their donations placed 
before them. Then came out a member of the 
chiefs household, who held a few moments' 
consultation with the leader of the company, and 
then returned to apprize the widow of the object of 
their visit. Immediately he brought to the party 
her gracious acceptance of their gifts, at which 
their pleasure was manifested by vigorous clapping 
of hands. 

'^ Curiosity next led us to pass the residence 
where the royal relatives v/ere domiciled during 
their stay. Here we saw piles of yams that were 
assuming hay-stack dimensions, and the number 
of turtles was astonishing. At midday we landed 
the marines and blue-jackets abreast of the ship, 
where Avere seated all the chiefs attending the fu- 
neral, and then marched them to that side of Tui 
Cakau's house nearest the place of interment, and 
lined the pathway from the dwelling to the grave. 
Slowly now filed out the procession. The Catholic 
priest led the way, accompanied by several black 
boys bearing candles, and dressed in red cassocks 
and white cottas. Following these was the coffin, 
borne by ten lusty natives, and then appeared the 
widow alone. Next was Her Majesty's representa- 
tive, the lieutenant-governor of Fiji. Then came 
old King Cacobau with his retinue, and the attend- 
ant chiefs in order of their rank. 

''Arrived at the last resting-place for the once 
most powerful chief in all Fiji, the Catholic service 



74 "^HE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

for the dead was read, and the cofifin was lowered 
into the grave, and wrapped nicely in the mats with 
which the place had previously been lined. Now 
three rounds of blank cartridge were fired over the 
silent chieftain, and then the procession solemnly 
moved homeward to the bugle march, followed 
by the marines and blue-jackets. More mourning 
with conch-shells came next, and then assembled 
the natives to drink kava, and to partake of the 
feast which terminates the ceremonies of a modern 
Fijian funeral." 

In this last picture we see indeed a curious min- 
gling of the old and the new. There is little that 
is distinctively Christian about it. The one omis- 
sion over which one can heartily rejoice is the 
absence of human sacrifice; and that is a long step 
in advance. 

The climate compels speedy interment in Fiji, 
and early in the morning after the demise of a 
chief his grave is dug. Two sextons do the work, 
with bamboo digging-sticks. The excavation is 
seldom more than three feet deep, and is always 
nicely lined with mats. Frequently, articles which 
the deceased greatly desired when living are interred 
with him. Thus it often happens that a poor com- 
moner, who in life could not possess one mat, is 
buried with four or six. The funeral feast is sup- 
plied to an extravagant degree with baked meats. 

'' In the days before the majority of the natives 
became Christians," relates a writer, '^ there existed 



PAST AND PRESENT FUNERAL RITES. 75 

no such thing as affection or care for the aged and 
infirm. The idea prevailed that one's condition in 
the fijture state would be almost exactly that in 
which death found him; hence the old often begged 
their children to strangle them before they had 
reached a state of total helplessness, a behest the 
young were not slow to obey. In fact, they did 
not always wait for that condition." 

The island of Taviuni has been called the garden 
of Fiji, and merits the title. Taviuni is about 
twenty-five miles long, with a coast line of sixty 
miles. In form it is one vast cone, rising gradu- 
ally to a central ridge over three thousand feet 
high. On this summit reposes a lovely little lake, 
supposed to occupy the crater of an extinct vol- 
cano. The southern extreme of Taviuni is the lo- 
cation of several nice residences, besides a school 
for young ladies, a good hotel, called the Masonic, 
and one or more prosperous stores. On its west- 
ern side is the splendid sugar-cane plantation of a 
Mr. Hunter, nearly three hundred acres in extent. 
Upon it are his snug little residence and his exten- 
sive sugar factory, a very hive of industry at the 
sugar-making season. A number of English gen- 
tlemen have taken up their abode in Taviuni, sev- 
eral of whom possess large coffee, sugar, and cocoa- 
nut plantations. 

The town of Wairiki adorns the northern verge 
of the island, and embraces an excellent store, with 
a comfortable Catholic Church and its schools. 



"J^ THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

Some miles beyond we come to the immense cocoa- 
nut plantation — seven hundred acres — belonging 
to a Mr. Peckham. His cattle pastures, in which 
are some fine animals, remind one of pleasant rural 
scenes in England. Mr. Peckham is the owner of 
a small island adjacent, where he has a fortune 
growing in coffee trees. Already has fruit from it 
brought unusual p'rices in the city by the Golden 
Gate. 

Rain is so frequent in Taviuni that vegetation is 
simply exuberant, producing the most attractive 
scenes everywhere. In shadowy recesses of the 
forest, on this island, dwells the Kula, a brilliant 
species of paroquet, the bird whose clear scarlet 
feathers are so much prized by the Samoans and 
Tongans for ornamenting their mats. The pretty 
creature is extremely delicate, like the orange dove, 
and has never long survived removal from its na- 
tive groves. The natives, who well understand its 
wants, succeed in keeping it in their homes. This 
is accomplished in cages of basket-work, with an 
opening at the top covered with a cocoanut shell. 
When the birds go to sleep, if there be more than 
one in a cage, they enter the cocoanut one by one. 
As many as four or five have been known to crowd 
into a single shell. 

Fiji is a land distinguished for ferns, and Taviuni 
is the cream of Fiji in this respect. 




CHAPTER X. 

THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 

^O quickly, upon our arrival, did we leave 
Levuka, the capital of Fiji, for study in 
other parts of the group, that we really 
learned nothing about it. Let us now pass over 
from this island of Viti Levu to that of Ovalau, and 
get acquainted with the smart little town. On the 
way are several tiny islands, gems which look like 
miniature paradises. As we draw near to Ovalau, 
notice how exceedingly beautiful and romantic are 
some of its shore views. White villages climb the 
sloping hills almost from the water's edge, and look 
too quiet and peaceful to be part of a land with his- 
tory and traditions so dark. And then how im- 
pressive is the noble background of steep heights, 
whose rocky peaks reach toward the sky fifteen 
hundred feet or more ! The lower hills are clothed, 
to their very crowns, with luxuriant tropical foli- 
age. Coffee and cotton plantations, and patches of 
the broad-leaved taro, flourish here and there. 
Flowering shrubs, lofty palms, cocoanut trees, and 
the pandanus adorn the valley and pinnacle. 

Now we round a fantastic rock standing out from 
shore, and glide into the harbor of Levuka, inside 
the barrier-reef surrounding the island of Ovalau. 
Through this reef are two good entrances, named 

(77) 




BANYAN TREE. 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 79 

respectively Levuka and Wakaya channels, the lat- 
ter being the name of a small but very lovely island 
belonging to Dr. Brower, once United States Con- 
sul in Fiji. Notice on the hill-sides the homes of 
Levuka's thriving merchants, and the piers running 
out from the beach, the work of the ever-pushing 
Anglo-Saxon. On the south end of the beach is 
Nasova, where are the residences of the governor * 
and his chief officers of state, their official places of 
business, and some other buildings. At the northern 
end of the town are the post-office, custom-house, 
the department of law, etc., and beyond these lies 
the old Levuka of the natives, a semi-circle of 
houses facing the beach. The rocky promontory 
you see right before us, divides the harbor into two 
portions, and is itself crowned with the court- 
house. The whole scene is charming, and fairy-like 
by moonlight. A mountain torrent called Tatoga^ — 
river, perhaps — separates the native from the foreign 
Levuka. 

You recall how we had to make the passage 
in " any sort of craft that offered," and that was 
a schooner ! So we are not sorry to bid her 
good-by and get on shore. We have heard much 
about the ruffianism of the capital of Fiji, and are 
most agreeably surprised to find it as civil and or- 
derly as any town of its size in the United States. Of 
course there live in Levuka some mortals of the 
vagrant type ; but they are everywhere, except in 
Vineland, New Jersey, Westminster, California, and 



8o THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

the town where the Fairbanks scales are made, in 
Vermont. Still Levuka has the air of a civilized 
and educated community. Annexation to Great 
Britain claims a large share of the credit for the 
vast improvement made here and all over Fiji. 
Good and intelligent men and women are making 
their lives tell in the little capital, by aiding the mis- 
sionaries in their work of uplifting, by sustaining 
schools and other institutions which always grow 
out of well-regulated community life. There is a 
plentiful supply of all articles in ordinary demand, 
groceries and dry goods being surprisingly cheap. 
Of shops and stores, hotels and boarding-houses, 
there is no lack. Milliners and dress-makers have 
found their way hither. A photographer repro- 
duces the features of Briton or Fijian, and also 
keeps alive clocks and watches, being equally 
skillful at both trades ; and so we might con- 
tinue through the round of pursuits. 

So wonderfully Babel-like is the town of Levuka 
that men of almost every tongue on earth are here, 
and yet are so fused into a law-abiding community 
that Levuka's criminal record is a marvel for its 
brevity. One writer questions if any town of the 
same size in the British Empire excels it in that 
regard. 

The best church edifice in the capital is that of 
the Catholics, in which there is a peal of bells. 
The leading missionary of that denomination has 
been in Fiji thirty-five years. He is a member of 
the Marist order, and is a man highly esteemed by 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 8 1 

all classes of citizens. The Catholics claimed, in 
1882, a following of nine thousand communicants 
in the islands, a number said to be greatly exceeded 
by the Wesleyan membership. According to sta- 
tistics of the latter body in the same year, they 
numbered, of churches, eight hundred and forty- 
one; European missionaries, ten; native ministers, 
forty-eight; the membership not given. 

If we now take the broad path under the hills 
leading toward the southern extremity of the beach, 
we shall soon arrive at the English consulate, and, 
proceeding, we shall after a little find ourselves in a 
pretty little village, the chief house of which is the 
residence of King Cacobau, when he pays Levuka 
a visit, the royal home being, it will be remembered, 
on the island of Viti Levu. Going on a distance of 
two miles or so, we shall come upon a broad, deep 
stream, unbridged, and close at hand shall dis- 
cover a small house, in which dwells a scholarly 
German gentleman, possessed of a mania for nat- 
ural history. Here for a time he has hidden away 
from the world, to study nature's beautiful and cu- 
rious works in the tropics. In his garden are avi- 
aries, monkey-houses, and ponds for fish. Among 
his rarest things is an orange-colored dove, found 
upon only one small island of the group, and of so 
delicate a nature is it, that it has been found almost 
impossible to preserve one alive any length of time, 
if kept in confinement. The lovely bird subsists 
upon the berry of a certain tree, which, fortunately, 
6 



82 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

grows at one point or another of the island the 
whole year round. Deprived of these berries, the 
orange bird dies. So our student has them brought 
fresh every morning for his captive. So decided is 
the preference of the bird for its chosen food, that 
some ornithologist has said of it : '^ We shall never 
succeed in transplanting it until we import with it 
the tree to which it is so partial. Sunlight is essen- 
tial to its life, and when caged, the least cold or 
wind soon kills it.'' 

It is not a little remarkable, also, that the cel- 
ebrated orange cowerie is found in the same isl- 
and more frequently than on any other. To ob- 
tain this shell in a perfect state is most difficult, 
owing to the chiefs' wearing it as an ornament for 
the neck, in which case it is always pierced. Years 
ago, when orange coweries were in fashion, they 
commanded fabulous prices, and even now they 
are as high in the south seas as in London. Fijian 
shells seem to assemble themselves in certain local- 
ities. For instance, in one section of Viti Levu, 
one finds only tiger coweries; in another quarter, 
the spider shell abounds. Next, one may stumble 
upon quantities of the miter shell, or mitra episco- 
■ palis. 

Bidding the bright-minded German good-after- 
noon, we will retrace our way to Levuka. Along 
the route and in the villages are going on no end 
of things which interest us. Here is a company 
preparing the ground for planting that distinguished 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 



83 



Fijian vegetable, the yam. The soil is thoroughly- 
cleared, and now they are forming it into ridges, or 
wrinkles, like celery beds. Into these ridges, even 
distances apart, are set pieces of old yam, which in 
a short time begin to sprout, ajid in due time are 
ripened. 




THE SUN-FISH. 

Turn in any direction we choose, some deed or 



84 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

thing arouses our curiosity, and we venture to 
accost everybody for information, just as we did a 
few years ago all over our own Pacific Coast. But 
let us hasten into town now, and after luncheon we 
will try the ascent of the hills north of Levuka. 
Meanwhile we will glance over a copy of The Figi 
Argus, a weekly sheet whose pre-eminent duty 
seems to be to arraign the government for most of 
its doings. Its competitor in the newspaper field 
is The Figi Times, bi-weekly, which espouses, it is 
said, the other side in administrative affairs. An- 
other Levuka publication is The Royal Gazettey 
which appears monthly. 

Proceeding up the stream which separates the 
native and foreign portions of Levuka, we soon 
reach the laundry-ground of the Figian washer- 
women, surrounded by croton-oil bushes. Both 
the croton and the castor-oil plants flourish in Figi, 
but they are little used except for fences. Cross- 
ing the stream here, we begin the steep ascent to 
Turret Park, which, from below, looks like a verita- 
ble castle turret, with three distinct windows, about 
which ivy is creeping. But once on a level with 
the object, the illusion ceases, and there is found 
only a perpendicular, rounded mass, with every 
attractive feature fled. Our objective point is the 
summit of the hills; so we push on, up a path lead- 
ing through a wilderness of fallen trees, beautiful 
creepers, and wonderful feathery ferns, until we 
attain the top, and stand amid a magnificence of 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 85 

sylvan wealth surpassing anything we ever beheld. 

Look at the beauty and the luxuriance! What 
is everything? Up this trunk strays a feathery vine 
with starry heads ; here winds a gossamer fern 
until it is lost in myriad growths above our heads. 
Parasitic plants are interlaced in hopeless intricacy, 
woven together in slender, delicate lace-work, half 
stifling the fragile fronds around which they entwine. 
From the creamy-white blossoms of this tree with 
dark shining foliage, comes the delightful fragrance 
we breathe. The natives call it the damu-damu, 
and wear its flowers formed into necklaces and 
head-dresses. Notice the oval-shaped fruit on the 
high tree at our right. It is the very thing we have 
been eating daily in desserts at the hotel, and is the 
vapid Figian apple. Now observe the world of 
unobtrusive little plants, every one extremely beauti- 
ful, which mantle the ground beneath these proud, 
aspiring creepers. Glad are they if they catch, 
now and then, but a falling rain-drop, and an occa- 
sional glimpse of the lovely blue sky. But here is 
the finest thing in all nature, this arch of magnifi- 
cent tree-ferns, whose wide-spreading, plume-like 
crowns form a canopy of emerald lace, through 
which we may look out upon the great sea, where 
now the sunlight showers floods of gold and flashes 
of changeful color. 

See! how the nearest islands seem to float in 
the air, while those beyond are poised, verily, in 
the dreamy blue sky. But something in the whole 



86 THE' FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

wonderful scene affects us unpleasantly. What is 
it? Observe that everything, from the frailest fern 
on these hills to the foamy spray in that coral reef, 
is wrapped in profound quiet. There is not breeze 
enough to move a blossom above us, or to assist 
the one sail of that canoe paddling leisurely into 
the harbor. But that is not all. Far, nor near, is 
there sight or sound of animal life, outside that 
little canoe, to gladden one's heart. How often is 
it so, notwithstanding all the fascinations of these 
South Sea lands ! There is but a minimum of ani- 
mal life anywhere. The valley landscapes are 
dumb. True, the parrot, or some other feathered 
creature in flashy dress, may startle us with its un- 
familiar cry; but the sounds are not joyous. Could 
we but hear a robin pour fourth its melody from 
the heights of that Wi tree! Could a meadow-lark 
but pipe up from those tufts of scented grass, or 
some other of the glad songsters whose notes have 
charmed us from childhood, how quickly would 
those somber emotions take flight! 

But the day is waning and we must hasten down 
from this eyrie. Our course, a little different from 
that pursued in coming up, discloses, at every step, 
floral and forest wealth that amazes us. We soon 
enter a deep glen, where, for a few moments, we 
stand speechless, surrounded by a myriad of tree- 
ferns, matchless for beauty, rivaling even the ever- 
graceful palm-tree. With stem erect as a chiseled 
pillar, the thick, fibrous bark studded with filmy 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 8/ 

fernlets, and the stately crown of long feathers 
springing from the center, the tree-fern is one of 
the loveliest pieces of divine handiwork. Lower 
down we come to scattered native dwellings, and to 
plantations of the broad-leaved taro plants rising 
out of their watery beds. There are several kinds 
of taro, and this we now see is the kurilagi, and 
reminds us of a story, perfectly true, which connects 
this kind of taro with the sad fate of an entire 
Figian tribe, in days long gone. 

About three miles northeast of Namosi, in the 
island of Viti Levu, there dwelt a tribe known as 
the Kai-na-loca, which once gave great offense to 
the ruling chief of the district, and for this misdeed 
all its members were condemned to die. Every 
year the inmates of one house were to be baked 
and eaten; fire was to be applied to the empty 
dwelling, and the ground where it stood to be 
planted with kurilagi. The following year, the 
ripening of the taro was the signal for the destruc- 
tion of another family and its residence, and the 
planting of another field of taro. Thus were sacri- 
ficed family after family, and house after house, 
until Chief Ratinbuna, father of the present ruler 
in Namosi, pardoned the few remaining, and suf- 
fered them to die a natural death. 

We can imagine the feelings of the unfortunate 
creatures as they watched the maturing of the 
threatening taro. Their lives were forfeited, where- 
ever they might go, throughout the dominions of 



88 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

that powerful chief. And, in those days, to escape 
into the domain of other chiefs was but to speed 
their awful doom. No other course remained, 
therefore, but to watch, watch the hurrying growth 
of the kurilagi. 

The taro beds behind us, we are soon out on the 
beach road, leading into the capital. But before we 
reach the stream up which our stroll begins, we 
come upon a prettily-matted house, belonging to 
Tui Levuka — king of Levuka— a fine-looking man, 
and a descendant of a great chief, of whom this 
story is told. 

One day when out on the sea, about seven miles 
from Ovalau, the great canoe of the chief was upset 
and sank, leaving himself and his retinue of forty- 
six men struggling in the deep. As the boat 
went down, the men formed a circle around their 
chief, joined hands, and with their feet kept them- 
selves afloat. Very soon the sharks began to gather 
about them, seizing and devouring one by one the 
defenders of Tui Levuka. When one dropped out, 
the others quickly joined hands over the gap thus 
made, while the chief continued to swim safely 
within the ever-diminishing circle. The sharks 
kept steadily at their work, and finally, when the 
company was rescued by another canoe, only 
twenty of the forty-six men survived. Either they 
were a rarely faithful retinue, or the knowledge that, 
should they land without their chief, they would at 
once become candidates for the oven, spurred them 
to duty. 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 89 

We have been some time in Fiji, and have accu- 
mulated a world of information about the lovely 
country and its rapidly-improving people. But 
there remains vastly more to be seen and learned. 
It must be remembered that about eighty of the isl- 
ands are inhabited. We have visited not even all of 
the principal ones. But in a few days we are to be 
off for the Samoan, or Navigators' Islands, in which 
the German, English, and American newspapers 
have been so interested of late years. So we must 
content ourselves, as to Fiji, with hurried runs to 
Vanua Levu, Vanua Balavu, and the island of 
Mango, where are the finest plantations of sea-island 
cotton. 

Vanua Levu — Big Land — is the second largest 
island of the Fijian group. We shall have a delight- 
ful journey of it. The distance is ninety miles, and 
the craft in which we *'take ship" is a fourteen-ton 
schooner — five passengers, and cargo nearly up 
to its utmost capacity. The cockroaches secured 
berths before ourselves, and are in possession below, 
therefore we must take the deck. Happily, to- 
morrow forenoon will see us entering Savu-Savu 
Bay, a harbor of noble proportions, on the southeast 
coast of Vanua Levu. The bay has a shore-line of 
forty miles, from point around to point. Eight miles 
of the northeast corner is landlocked, except the 
western side, and offers anchorage the safest possi- 
ble, close in shore, for the largest ship. The 
entrance to the bay is a splendid passage over three 



90 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS, 

miles wide. Nearly around the bay stretches a line 
of hills, from seven hundred to three thousand feet 
in height, while between them and the water ex- 
tends a belt of level country, from one to two miles 
broad, offering admirable village sites, and room for 
gardens for a large population. 

Nothing can exceed the fertility of the land 
about the harbor. As in all these coral lands, veg- 
etation of the most luxuriant kind reaches even to 
the sandy beach, forming a scene of wondrous 
beauty, to remain in the memory forever. But 
here, as in'Ovalau, we are struck with the intense 
silence which pervades the whole scene. The nar- 
row strait of Somo-Somo separates Vanua Levu 
from Taviuni, the island we visited to witness the 
funeral rites described in a preceding chapter. 
Vanua Levu is about one hundred and ten miles 
long by twenty-five miles broad, and is divided into 
three districts, under the sway of three '^ great 
chiefs." 

The yam attains perfection on this island. It is 
a long, round, fibrous root, generally dark brown 
in color, with a rough skin, but remarkably sweet 
and farinaceous. The sunny banks of the valleys 
and the slopes of the lower hills are best adapted to 
its growth. For planting yams, the earth is arranged 
in terraces, overlaid with a thick coat of rich earth 
and leaves. The yams intended for planting are 
kept until they sprout, when each sprout is removed, 
with a portion of the yam about an inch long and 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 9 1 

a quarter of an inch thick attached to it, the 
remainder of the root being reserved for eating. 
The detached pieces are carefully set in the ter- 
races with the sprout upward, and lightly covered, 
first with leaves, then with mold. Yams keep 
longer out of the ground than any other South 
Pacific tuber, and make, therefore, excellent sea 
stock. 

In the island of Kandavu is a lofty mountain, 
called Great Yam Hill. And in the city of Port- 
land, Oregon, is a thoroughfare named Yam Hill 
Street. It has been said that yams, probably not 
the Fijian variety, were once cultivated in the 
latter vicinity. 

We referred slightly to taro cultivation in our last 
chapter. Upon the raising of this tuber, also, the 
natives bestow great care. The taro is a large, solid 
root, oblong in shape, from nine to twelve inches 
long, and from five to six in diameter. The plant 
has no stalk. Its broad, heart-shaped leaves rise 
directly from the root, as do the leaves of a beet, 
and the flower is enveloped in a sheath. The tuber 
is best cultivated in marshy spots. It is generally 
baked, the skin being carefully scraped off with a 
knife, as is that from new potatoes. The tubers 
are solid, and look like mottled soap. They are 
very nutritive, but some Europeans have to learn 
to like them, and do not very speedily accomplish 
the feat. One writer says : — 

^^ Speaking generally, there is no comparison, in 



92 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

my opinion, between the fruits and vegetables of 
temperate latitudes and those of the tropics. I con- 
fessedly prefer the potatoes, cabbages, and aspara- 
gus, the apples, pears, and strawberries, of England 
or America to all the pineapples, bananas, grena- 
dillos, yams, taro, and bread-fruit of lovely Poly- 
nesia. The exceptions I make are the lime ^ and 
orange. These, in tropic lands are delicious." 

Now we will pay a flying visit to Vanua Balavu, 
one hundred and thirty miles from Levuka. We 
make the trip by sail, but we have a fair wind, and 
shall scud along at a satisfying rate, and sometime 
to-morrow shall glide into the harbor of Loma- 
Loma. Vanua Balavu lies in the shape of a horse- 
shoe, and is the chief island of the eastern group of 
Fiji, called the Exploring Isles. On the way over 
we shall pass the little island of Chichia, the beau- 
tiful possession of one of the most agreeable and 
most hospitable planters in all Fijiland. 

But here we are, safely in harbor, with the neat 
white dwellings of Loma-Loma springing into view. 
With this town and the island upon which it stands 
will long be associated the name of a man who, for 
sometime after 1847, played a conspicuous part in 
Fijian history. This was Maafu, a royal relative of 
King George, ruler of the Tonga Islands, who ex- 
iled him at the above date, shrewdly concluding 
that the uneasy fellow's room was safer than his 
company. So Maafu came over to Fiji, and made 
his abode at Loma-Loma. It so happened that the 



THE CAPITAL OF Fiji. 93 

leading chief of the Leeward group and that of 
the Windward group, of Fiji, were then engaged 
in a hot strife. Maafu immediately espoused the 
cause of the weaker chief, defeated his enemies in 
battle, and soon became actual master of Vanua 
Balavu. Naturally this success engendered the 
idea of seizing the whole of Fiji, and the ambitious 
Tongan at once took measures to accomplish the 
project. But a British consul had not long before 
been appointed to Fiji, and he promptly put a stop 
to the usurper's proceedings. 

However, everything comes to him who waits, 
and Maafu's day was not long in coming. In 1859 
Fiji resembled some of the South American repub- 
lics, in which revolutions have occurred as regularly 
as comes the Easter-tide. The chiefs in Vanua 
Levu had a difference, and their subjects prepared 
to extinguish each other. Hereupon Maafu was 
wide-awake. He sent friendly proposals to one of 
these chiefs, named Bete, and to his ally, Bua. The 
result was a triple alliance that enabled the alert 
Tongan to bring the larger part of Vanua Levu 
into subjection to his legions. Now this island ac- 
knowledged vassalage to King Cacobau, of Viti 
Levu, who by this time began to think the exile 
w^as going too fast, for he had already dispatched 
an expedition against the island of Benza, closely 
adjacent to Viti Levu. But, fortunately for the 
king's cause, the British consul had just returned 
from England, where he had presented an offer 



94 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

from Cacobau, of the cession of Fiji to the queen's 
government. Beheving the offer had been accepted, 
the consul straightway brought Maafu to a right 
mind by the presence of one of Her Majesty's war- 
ships. 

At a later date, Maafu attempted to repeat his 
plotting, but again an English steamer interfered, 
and thereafter he had the good sense to conclude 
that fighting Fiji chiefs and fighting British troops 
were quite different undertakings. So he settled 
down at Loma-Loma, as the acknowledged chief of 
the Windward group, until about 1882, we believe, 
when his death occurred. 

Maafu was not only a man of great ability but of 
advanced intelligence, and often, after the establish- 
ment of colonial rule, gave advice to the govern- 
ment upon native affairs. In the deed of cession to 
Great Britain, his signature follows that of King 
Cacobau. And now, among the white cottages of 
Loma-Loma, which we see as we sail in, is the at- 
tractive dwelling of Chief Maafu, amid extensive 
grounds, surrounded by a high reed fence, and 
shadowed by stately trees. Its interior is worthy 
the civilized Tongan, furnished, as it is, with chairs, 
tables, sofas, a French clock, and numerous other 
articles of comfort. The whole aspect of Loma- 
Loma is fresher, more refined, than that of most 
Fijian villages, clearly betokening Tongan influence. 

The roadway on which Loma-Loma stands, 
shaded by palm and bread-fruit trees, and lined 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 95 

with bananas, extends along the harbor a distance 
of ten miles, affording a delightful drive. The 
great hill is fairly covered with the graceful tree- 
fern, over which blue and white convolvuli hang in 
garlands. Beyond, lie some of the large cotton 
plantations for which Vanua Balavu was once so 
famous. 

Mango, our last island in Fiji, decks the ocean 
fourteen miles south of Vanua Balavu. The island 
is nearly round, and is inclosed almost entirely by 
a coral reef Its harbor is an excellent roadstead 
for men-of-war and other large craft. Unmistak- 
ably, it is of volcanic origin, for its interior is a 
basin like the crater of an extinct volcano, while the 
coast line is a circle of high hills. The island was 
purchased in 1863 by two gentlemen who deter- 
mined to cultivate it in cotton, and for many years 
it has been devoted to that staple, the estate form- 
ing the oldest of its kind in Fiji, some which pre- 
ceded it having ceased to exist. The area of 
Mango is eight thousand acres. In 1882, seven 
hundred acres were growing sea- island cotton of 
finest quality ; and but for the disastrous check to 
the pursuit, caused by the closing of French facto- 
ries during the war with Prussia, a much larger area 
would be under the plant. The seed which started 
the Mango cotton came from our Southern States, 
and both in Philadelphia and Paris received the 
premium over the .Southern cotton. 

The Mango trees are perennial, have a highly 



96 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

cultivated appearance, and yield two crops annually, 
the amount, on an average, being eight hundred 
pounds ^'in seed" to the acre, — a wonderful suc- 
cess. Besides the cotton, there are many hundred 
acres in Mango set to coffee— a superior article. 
Also a vast space is reserved for corn, for bananas, 
bread-fruit, and lime plantations, the cultivation of 
the latter being a pre-eminent feature in the island. 
Finally, the vast interior of Mango, its amphithe- 
ater, is studded with cocoanuts, from which are 
manufactured many tons of copra per annum. The 
seed of the sea-island cotton is also exported in 
quantities to London, whence, it is said, it returns 
to Fiji ''as the finest Lucca oil"! The island of 
Mango is bountifully watered. 

Bidding farewell to this little brilliant among 
Fijian gems, we run back to Levuka, whence, after 
a day spent on the Rewa, Viti Levu's largest river, 
we lay our course toward Samoa. '' The Noble 
Rewa" is the longest stream in Fiji, navigable 
ninety-one miles. It pours into the sea by four 
mouths, forming fertile deltas, which are highly cul- 
tivated. A great wonder of one of these deltas is a 
canal, two miles long and sixty feet wide, admitting 
the largest canoes. Tradition makes the passage 
a work accomplished long ago, by native engineers, 
for military purposes. Considering the implements 
with which the work must have been done — sticks 
for loosening the earth, hands instead of shovels, 
baskets in place of wheelbarrows and carts — the 



THE CAPITAL OF FIJI. 9/ 

channel must be regarded as a masterpiece of pa- 
tient toil. Indeed, it would seem to be a relic of a 
civilization long by-gone. 

At Navuso, twelve miles from its mouth, the 
Rewa receives the waters of the Wai Manu, itself 
navigable a distance of ten miles. Thus does the 
inland navigation of these two streams equal one 
hundred miles. On account of the richness of the 
forests and the ever-changing surface, the country 
along the Rewa is very beautiful. The whole district 
is a rich field for geological study, while at some 
points the vegetation surpasses anything to be con- 
ceived, thus is it equally inviting to the botanist. 
Approaching the mountain region, the sublimity 
of the scenery is unparalleled in the islands. 

In the vicinity of the Rewa are extensive peanut 
plantations, the fruit being regularly exported to 
Australia and New Zealand. Rewa sugar finds a 
ready market. Its deltas produce sand-flies and 
mosquitoes by the tons, but these have not yet be- 
come an article of export. 




LOPAPHUS COCCOPHAGUS, OR COCOA EATING LOPAPHUS. 




CHAPTER XL 

THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. 

' BOUT six hundred miles northeast of Le- 
vuka is the Samoan or Navigators' group 
of islands, scarcely second in importance 
to any archipelago in Western Polynesia. Ex- 
cept by occasional war-ships, there is no steam 
communication between Fiji and Samoa; so once 
more we accept the accommodations of a sailing- 
vessel, and proceed to make ourselves comfortable 
for a week's voyage. We are barely on our way 
before we discover that our captain possesses true 
courtesy, kindness of heart, and a jovial manner 
quite peculiar to himself These traits insure us a 
delightful trip, all the little incidents of which we 
pass over,. to say that one morning we wakened to 
find ourselves in the most perfect landlocked har- 
bor in the South Seas; we need not except the safe 
roadstead of lovely Mango Island. This is the Bay 
of Apia, on the northwestern side of the island of 
Upolo, containing, according to the survey of Com- 
modore Wilkes, five hundred and sixty square 
miles. 

The Samoan group embraces three principal isl- 
ands — Savaii, Upolo, and Tutuila — -with from five 
to seven smaller bodies, all inhabited by a popula- 
(98) 



lOO THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

tion of about forty thousand souls, and containing 
a total area of about three thousand square miles. 
The group lies in the direct route of the Oceanic 
line of steamers from San Francisco to Sidney, 
Australia, after they leave Honolulu, and is twenty- 
two hundred miles from the latter place, and 
forty-three hundred from San Francisco via the 
Sandwich Islands. The position of these most inter- 
esting islands has been known since 1722. From 
that date down to 1830, when the London Mission- 
ary Society founded a mission among them, they 
have been visited by navigators of many lands. 
The missionaries found the inhabitants a gentle and 
peaceable race, possessing none of the terrible traits 
of the Fijians. 

The steamers of the Oceanic line pass through 
the group, not stopping, but merely '' slowing 
down/' off the island of Tutuila, sufficiently to 
transfer European and American mail matter to the 
cutter which transports it to Apia. 

Savaii, the largest and most western of the group, 
is forty miles long and twenty miles wide. Begin- 
ning with a low shore, it rises gradually to the cen- 
ter, where are to be seen several craters of extinct 
volcanoes, establishing the origin of the island. 
Its highest points are cloud-enveloped and seldom 
seen. A Mr. Whitmee states that he ascended one 
of these peaks and found it to be by aneroid meas- 
urement four thousand seven hundred and sixty feet 
above the sea. - Never so populous as the other isl- 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. lOI 

ands, its inhabitants were the last to become Chris- 
tians. 

Ten miles southeastward of Savaii is the beauti- 
ful island of Upolo, forty miles long, thirteen miles 
wide, and for some reasons the most important of 
the group. It, too, shows craters of dead volca- 
noes, three of which have been changed into lakes 
of great depth and beauty, and are unknown ex- 
cept to those bold enough and strong enough, to 
climb steep mountain trails, through trackless trop- 
ical growths. 

Before we came hither we had certainly seen 
something of the exquisite beauty of the South 
Pacific Islands ; but we were not prepared for the 
magnificent scene which met our eyes when we 
awakened in the Bay of Apia. A vast semi-circu- 
lar body of the purest blue water — water so trans- 
parent that we could look over the ship's side and 
distinctly see the many-hued coral grottoes, fath- 
oms below, and bright-tinted fish darting hither 
and thither — lay spread out before us. Stretching 
from point to point, with an opening just large 
enough to allow ships to easily enter, was the coral 
reef completely protecting the smooth anchorage. 
Over this reef the surf was dashing as high as the 
foreyard of the vessel. On one side rose the head- 
land of Mulinuu on the west ; on the other, the 
lov/, sandy 'point of Matautu on the east. The 
whole lovely expanse was alive with dug-outs and 
canoes with out-riggers. All around the curve 



102 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

runs the beach of coralhne sand, fringed with 
stately cocoa-palms, while floating off to us came 
powerful odors from many aromatic flowers, com- 
pelling us to confess, '^ This place is nature's best. 
This is the perfection of God's earthly work." 

The outfall of two rivers divides the Bay of Apia 
into three parts. In the center stands the town of 
Apia — one long straggling street along the beach 
with houses on both sides. On higher ground is 
the Catholic cathedral, the dwellings of the bishops 
and clergy, the Wesleyan chapel, the British con- 
sulate, and a fine hotel called '^ The Pacific Stores.'* 
On Point Mulinuu are the American and German 
consulates, a few stores, and a ship-yard. At 
Matautu are several stores, and a native village, 
which, charmingly planted in a grove of cocoa 
palms, and sheltered by oranges, limes, bananas, 
and bread-fruit trees, boasts the residence of the 
king of Samoa. Here from time immemorial have 
lived and ruled the monarchs of this people. 

The climate of the Samoan group is mild and 
agreeable, though in the wet season much more 
rain falls than in Fiji. The average temperature 
ranges from seventy to eighty degrees, but there is 
a constant sea-breeze. From December to March 
rain falls copiously. June and July are the coolest 
months, but there is really little variation of tem- 
perature. March is considered the most boisterous 
season, but sometimes gales occur in January and 
February, affecting great destruction of property 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. IO3 

and loss of life even in the sheltered Bay of Apia. 
But on this subject we shall have more to say fur- 
ther on. 

The author of ''Coral Lands" pronounces Samoa 
"one of the healthiest places on earth/' and says, 
*^The only drawback which the group possesses is 
the presence of elephantiasis " — a terrible disease 
of the skin, attended with the destruction or de- 
formity of the part affected. Foreign residents are 
not, exempt from it, though rarely is one attacked 
until after a residence of twelve years or more in 
the islands. Elephantiasis is most prevalent in the 
low-lying districts, the inhabitants of the little isl- 
and of Annu'u being entirely free from the scourge. 
Excessive kava drinking aggravates the trouble, 
and, indeed, it may safely be said that, of the few 
diseases which obtain in the Pacific, all, with the 
exception of elephantiasis, are due in great meas- 
ure to over-indulgence in intoxicating stimulants 
of inferior manufacture, or to *' native grog." For 
the malady of which we are writing, quinine is said 
to be an excellent remiedy. 

As a race, the Samoans are far superior to the 
average Fijian. The men are tall, handsome, and 
light brown in color, many of them being not so 
dark as are some Italians and Spaniards. Harvey 
W. Whitaker says of them, in the Century Maga- 
zine: ''In color the Samoans are the lightest, in 
physique the most perfect and imposing, as well as 
the most graceful, of South Sea peoples. In dispo- 



I04 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

sition they are the most gentle, and in manners the 
most attractive, while mentally and morally they 
much surpass their neighbors." They are very 
sprightly, truthful, hospitable, and always, among 
themselves or in the company of foreigners, are 
exceedingly polite and kind. They are peace-lov^ 
ing and generous almost to a fault. Inferior per^ 
sons, women, and children, are never put to death, 
as aforetime by the Fijians. Women are treated 
with the highest respect, while children are regarded 
with an affection amounting almost to extrava^ 
gance. 

The people of Samoa have never been cannibals ; 
never have had a thirst for human blood. So far 
otherwise have they been that all their traditions 
give evidence of most excellent and merciful laws, 
and of careful provision for saving lives imperiled 
by accident or by unintentional misdeed. As 
among the early Hebrews, places of refuge were 
provided for such unfortunates as might have in- 
curred the vengeance of another. And there was 
a plan of public reconciliation, whereby a man's life 
could be saved, even when justly forfeited. These 
provisions carry us right back to similar institutions 
among the Fijians, and strongly suggest a common 
parentage for both peoples, leaving the eventual 
great divergence in customs and disposition to be 
accounted for by a longer absence from the native 
soil, and by centuries of life under different circum- 
stances and influences. Some harmful process, a 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. IO5 

long struggle with enemies, perhaps, converted the 
Fijian into a monster of cruelty, left him sunken 
in barbarism, while happier conditions may have 
preserved to the Samoan all his rich affections, his 
tenderer, more affable ways, his nobler thoughts 
and views. 

It is a fact that to-day both peoples, notwitn- 
standing the influence of Christianity, to which they 
have been more or less subject for about half a 
century, live under the constant fear and dread of 
the power and influence of their old deities, induc- 
ing them to perform strange acts of heathenism. 
This is another argument in favor of a common 
ancestry. The Samoans have received Christianity 
more readily than the Fijians, perhaps. And yet 
the latter surprise us in this respect. With the ex- 
ception of the mountain cannibals, the race seems 
to have invited not only English sovereignty but 
with it the Christian religion. By this we mean 
that the Fijians generally have accepted its outward 
forms and have been affected somewhat by its hu- 
mane teachings; but of the true spirit and power of 
Christianity most of them know very little. Neither 
they nor the Samoans have ever been image or idol- 
worshipers. 

It is a pleasant fact that in war the persons of 
non-combatants are always respected in Samoa. The 
following little incident illustrates the point : There 
was once a little brush between the natives of Upolo 
and the sailors of the English ship Barraconta. 



I06 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

During the action a lieutenant of the steamer, with 
the usual naval coolness, crossed the open space 
at Mulunuu. ^^ Why didn't you shoot him ? '^ was 
asked of Admiral Sotomi, who commanded the 
native force and who related the incident. He re- 
plied: ''Why should we hit him? He didn't fire 
at us. We aimed only at those who aimed at us." 

The Samoans have suffered much from internal 
wars, but generally they have been forced into con- 
flict by unprincipled and selfish foreigners, whose 
proceedings in these islands should long ago have 
called forth the interference of the civilized powers. 
Indeed, they have but recently passed through an 
experience of this nature, in which the United 
States Government was enabled, through its influ- 
ence, and the presence of its war-ships in the Bay 
of Apia, to render this excellent people most effect- 
ive aid and service. 

Touching this point, one writer observes: It is 
a disgrace to this age of boasted material progress, 
that the greatest material advancement made by the 
Samoans since their first acquaintance with civilized 
man, some sixty years ago, is their increased knowl- 
edge of rifles and gunpowder. It is the verdict of 
those most conversant with the South Pacific peoples, 
that but three other groups can boast of inhabitants 
as well conducted as are the Samoans. These are 
the Hervey, Austral, and Union groups, whose 
natives, until visited by white men, were altogether 
without weapons of offense. 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. lO/ 

There is great diversity of opinion with respect 
to the language of Samoa. One writer declares it is 
the easiest to acquire and the most musical he ever 
heard, and he had been long accustomed to the 
Fijian tongue. Another says, ''It is soft and liquid 
but not musical, although sometimes called the 
Italian of the Pacific." It appears that a knowledge 
of it, sufficient for ordinary requirement, may be 
readily gained; but, being a language of idioms, 
year^ of study are said to be necessary to acquire 
sufficient command of it for purposes of oratory. 
Every syllable ends with a vowel, and the accent is 
always on the last syllable but one. The meaning 
of many words is varied by changing the pronunci- 
ation. The chiefs have a dialect of their own, and 
there are many words which must be used only in 
addressing a chief If other words are employed, 
it is equivalent to an insult. Even the names of 
the different parts of a chiefs body are not the 
same as are given to those of the common people. 
For example, a chiefs stomach is ''alo;" that of 
a common person is " manava." 

Hospitality, like politeness, is a very distinguish- 
ing characteristic of the Samoan people. Food and 
shelter are freely granted to everyone entering their 
homes, or villages, and strangers have but to con- 
sult their own wishes as to their departure. Every 
village provides a guest-house, for the reception, 
lodging, and entertainment of visitors. This struct- 
ure usually stands in the middle of the village, and 



I08 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

serves, also, as a council-house, where chief and 
people meet to discuss public affairs. When it is 
understood by some community that foreigners, or 
visitors from other villages, are about to pay a visit, 
they are frequently met a considerable distance on 
the way and accompanied into town, where they are 
received by the chief and the maiden who is to look 
after their welfare. 

In these instances there is always some prelim- 
inary conversation, during which the compliments 
of the day are exchanged, intermingled with a lav- 
ish use of personal flattery. Meantime the villagers, 
advised of the arrival of the guests, assemble in 
another quarter, bringing articles of food. When 
all is in readiness, they form a procession and 
march toward the guest-house, singing as they go. 
Boys and girls, old and young, their persons 
anointed with cocoanut oil, and arrayed in scanty 
toilets of leaves and flowers, join in the demonstra- 
tion of welcome. The music of their well-attuned 
voices, first heard faintly in the distance, but increas- 
ing in volume and sweetness as they approach, 
charms and deeply impresses the strangers. The 
latter, meanwhile, have remained seated and silent, 
as if unconscious of what is going on, and preserve 
a wonderful solemnity, as each villager, with saluta- 
tions of inimitable gracefulness, modestly places his 
offering at the feet of the most honored one. On 
some of these occasions the food, consisting of pigs, 
fruits, and fish, is presented in quantities sufficient 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. IO9 

to sustain a visiting party for days or weeks. This 
is certainly quite different from going to a hotel, 
silently and alone, and paying your board at the 
rate of three dollars a day. But who does not rec- 
ognize in that practice of sending out delegations 
to meet the coming guests, one of our own most 
charming and grateful customs? Few attentions 
can be more delightful to a visitor than to be 
greeted cordially at the gateway of a friend's house, 
or to have the door opened to admit him before his 
hand is on the door-bell. These are but little deeds, 
but they bring a deal of sunshine into the heart. 

The Samoans are a joyous and fun-loving people, 
and daily indulge their buoyant natures in singing 
and dancing, the latter pleasure being one in 
which all ages and classes freely share. One 
quickly feels at home among them, so gentle, and 
friendly, and ingenuous are they. Often, as one 
passes along the street, he is greeted, in the soft 
idiom of the language, with the expression, " My 
love to you." And when one is about to retire at 
night, instead of telling him to '' go to bed," as does 
the Fijian, the Samoan says, gracefully, ''My love," 
as he bows him to his couch. 

Never does a stranger visit Apia but that he is 
invited to indulge in a jaunt to Papaassaa, a fall of 
water about three miles distant, tumbling over a 
smooth rock some eighteen feet in height, where 
he is introduced to the novelties of a Samoan picnic, 
in reality a day's frolic in the water. Usually, the 
trip is decided upon several days previously, in 



no THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

order that an ample supply of refreshments, cooked 
in the South Sea fashion — with hot stones, in the 
ground — may be prepared, and sent forward early 
in the morning. 

About eight o'clock, while the dew is still on the 
leaves, dusky maidens, resplendent with cocoanut 
oil, and attired in wreaths of bright flowers, assem- 
ble with the young men and the invited guests, pre- 
paratory to the march. Then, shouting, laughing, 
and singing, they trip lightly along the path lead- 
ing to the fall. No sooner do they arrive than one 
after another springs eagerly into the clear pool at 
the base of the fall, diving and splashing in the 
water, and sending forth peals of laughter that make 
the valley ring with music. The greatest feat of 
the day, and one which fairly takes one's breath 
away, is the going above the rocks over which the 
stream flows, and, three or four being seated side 
by side, sliding over the edge of the fall, at an angle 
of forty-five degrees, into the pool below. The 
sensation produced by the swift plunge is indescrib- 
able, and must be experienced to be appreciated. 
After a few hours spent in these water sports, a 
diversion is made to partake of dinner, which is 
served upon banana leaves instead of plates, and 
handled with fingers instead of forks. Then all 
return to their amusements until time to seek their 
homes. 

The young people, also the elderly, are always 
laughing and talking, and the flow of their words, 
in a protracted conversation, is something astonish- 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. Ill 

ing. Altogether they lead a happy life. Toil they 
need not ; unasked the earth yields them her treas- 
ures. They bask in sunshine, clothe themselves 
with leaves and flowers, and extract out of the 
days the largest amount of pleasure they possibly 
can. They are not moral as a race, yet some of 
them are a credit to the missionaries who have 
taught them. They are fond of religious services 
and are steady church-goers. '^ But," says one who 
studied them closely, ^^ I sometimes think that, with 
the majority, Christianity is like Jonah's gourd, as 
much is lost at night as is gained during the day." 
They are a superstitious people, and seldom go out 
after nightfall, if there be no moon ; nor will they 
walk far through a wood of a dark night. And if 
out hunting during the day, they are sure to be at 
home in full daylight; because, roaming around in 
the twilight shadows, are ''too much devils." 

We have had a glimpse at the recreations of the 
merry Samoans, shall we not now glance at their 
industries ? Aside from fishing, planting taro, col- 
lecting copra, and cultivating fruit, their main occu- 
pation is the making of tappa, a cloth woven of the 
inner bark of the paper mulberry tree. But since 
the introduction among them of cotton prints from 
Europe, its manufacture is constantly decreasing. 
Now here is a roll of this cloth. You see it is 
composed of numerous pieces, glued together with 
arrow-root paste until its length is over one hun- 
dred feet, and its width about eighteen feet. The 
weavers are the elderly women, who, indeed, make 



112 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

all the tappa and ornament it in stripes, squares, 
triangles, or any figure they wish, with dyes of 
their own making, fi'om the many dye-barks yielded 
by the trees of the forests. Certain colors and de- 
signs are appropriated to the great chiefs, and are 
never used by the humbler class. Before the intro- 
duction of gorgeously-colored prints, a piece of 
tappa a yard square, worn about the loins and called 
a ''lava-lava," formed the total wardrobe of the 
natives. 

y We must not fail to see a specimen of the mats 
fabricated by these people, and so much talked 
about by every intelligent visitor to the islands. 
Like tappa, they are fabricated from the fiber of the 
paper mulberry. They are considered the most 
valuable of Samoan possessions. Years are fre- 
quently consumed in making them, and they are 
handed down from generation to generation. One 
of the best quality is as fine and soft as linen, and 
usually is trimmed with the scarlet feathers of the 
parraquet, native to Figi, a bird highly valued by 
the Samoans. It often happens that the people 
flock into Apia from the surrounding country, and 
even from adjoining islands, and, as they like to 
make as fine a display as possible, one often sees, in 
the picturesque processions they form, some of the 
finest and most beautiful of these priceless mats 
draping the persons of the visitors. 

Most of these articles are heir-looms, having 
interesting histories, and can never be disposed of 
without the consent of the heads of the families to 



THE SAMOAN ISLANDS. II3 

which they belong, and sometimes even of the 
government. The greater their age, the higher 
their value. And it happens not rarely that one of 
them, much worn, full of holes, and utterly worth- 
less, would not be sold for its weight in gold. This 
strained value is sometimes a source of annoyance 
to the white authorities, because, often, when a na- 
tive has been fined, owxs money, or cannot pay his 
taxes, he w^ill bring as payment one of these mats, 
which to him are priceless, but are not worth a farth- 
ing to anyone else ; and it is difficult to make him 
understand how unsatisfactory his treasure is. 

Why these mats should increase in value, accord- 
ing to the number of holes burnt in them, is incom- 
prehensible to us, but it is a fact that cannot be dis- 
proved. At dances, and on certain state occasions, 
the Samoans wear another sort of mat, beautifully 
w^oven from a species of flax. This article has a 
rough, shaggy texture, and after repeated washings 
and bleachings becomes exceedingly w^hite. There 
have been occasions w^hen a chief has, under the 
following circumstances, made a gift of valuable 
mats. For head-dresses for the chiefs it is indispen- 
sable to have hair of the proper color — a golden 
shade. Whenever a young girl is found possess- 
ing hair of this hue, her head is tabooed by some 
chief; that is, she is forbidden to dispose of the 
beautiful adornment to any other person, and 
when it is of sufficient length, the chief receives it, 
and presents the maiden with one of these hand- 
some mats as her rew^ard. 

8 -- 



CHAPTER XIL 

OTHER SAMOAN PRODUCTS AND CUSTOMS. 




JURING our wanderings in the South Pa- 
Y^ cific, we have heard much about tappa, and 
have seen it on countless occasions. We 
may now improve an hour by learning how the arti- 
cle is made. We already know that it is a product of 
the paper-mulberry tree. The lining of the bark is 
first stripped off in bands, which are laid in the bed 
of a running stream to soak. After a sufficient 
time these are removed, and laid, one by one, upon 
a log, in layers, and then beaten out to the width 
required, by heavy wooden mallets, having four 
sides, all grooved, the grooves of the sides increasing 
in size, the coarser grooves being used first, and 
thus on to the finest. When the strips have been 
beaten some time, they become blended into one 
mass, which, by the addition of fresh bark, can be 
increased in length and width to any extent. By 
the process of beating, it may also be made to vary 
in thickness, and so dexterous are the natives in the 
use of the mallet, that they sometimes make tappa 
as thin as gold-leaf When beaten to the desired 
consistency, the newly-made goods is spread on the 
grass to bleach and dry. The material is usually 
dyed in various pretty or striking patterns, great 
(114) 



OTHER SAMOAN PRODUCTS AND CUSTOMS. II5 

originality being displayed in the designing. The 
extent of some of the pieces is extraordinary, often 
being one hundred feet square. 

The dews in Samoa are very heavy, and in the 
evening the people envelop themselves in tappa, 
and, like ghosts, stalk down from their own tow^n 
into the white quarter, to the vicinity of the saloons. 
There they either sit or stand about in groups 
under the trees, listening to the music — of the ac- 
cordion and concertina — and watching the dancing, 
which is the sure accompaniment of sailor life on 
shore. 

Of course the washing of clothing must go on in 
Apia, as elsewhere in the world, and if we follow this 
beach road to the limit of the straggling towm, we 
shall come to a bridge over a narrow stream, where 
this occupation is proceeding. The bed of the 
creek presents an animated picture. Native men, 
women, and children are standing or sitting in the 
water, laughing, talking, and washing with all their 
might. As we suspected would be the case, they 
invite us to join them in their labor, but we decline 
the pleasure. Each woman sits in the running 
water with a flat stone before her, upon which she 
beats the garments until she thinks they can stand 
it no longer, when she shakes them backwards and 
forwards in the stream, then spreads them in the 
sun to dry, occasionally sprinkling them thoroughly, 
to assist in the bleaching, and she succeeds in mak- 
ing them very white. 



Il6 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

Now, crossing the bridge, we come to the French 
Cathohc Church and the missionary dwelhngs. 
These missionaries have an eye to the main chance, 
and have obtained possession of the best land back 
of the town, and have a considerable portion of it 
well cultivated. The avenues through their orange, 
banana, and bread-fruit plantations are the most in- 
viting in Apia. 

Proceeding, we soon come to the British consul- 
ate, back of which a path leads to the pretty cottage . 
of Mr. Williams, acting consul during his father's 
absence from the island. Mr. Williams is a grand- 
son of the martyr missionary, Rev. John Williams, 
of whom we have heard and read much in connec- 
tion with gospel work in the Southern seas, and 
who was barbarously murdered by natives at Erro- 
manga. In this precinct are a few native houses, 
and in course of erection an English church, with 
aspect extremely barn-like. Not a stroke appears 
to have been given to the work for a long time. 

But we will not yet retrace our steps. Just before 
us lies the favorite bathing-haunt of the Apians, 
every mortal of whom bathes two or three times a 
day. And we learn that they infinitely prefer fresh 
water to salt; and also that fishermen and coral 
divers, who have spent hours in the sea, invariably 
finish off the day with a plunge at this point. But 
the object of our stroll is the residence, just before 
us, of a hospitable lady whose gentle attentions to 
travelers in Samoa are equal to the kindness of her 



OTHER SAMOAN PRODUCTS AND CUSTOMS. 11/ 

brother, the acting Enghsh consul. Her thorough 
knowledge of the language, and the high esteem in 
which she is held by the natives, enable her to 
confer many favors otherwise not possible to be ob- 
tained. Then, all her kindly services are performed 
in a manner so charming that ourselves and every 
English-speaking resident in Samoa, or lonely wan- 
derer from afar, is directly won to her society. 
Now, rounding this point, we come to the residence 
of the American consul, and a large native house 
belonging to the chief, Patiole, where terminates 
our walk. 

Patiole's knowledge of English includes but few 
words, and conversation would certainly languish 
Avere we to enter; nevertheless, we will call a few 
moments. Physically, the man is as splendid a 
sample of the higher class as there is on the island. 
In height he is full six feet, six inches, and is finely 
proportioned. His figure conveys the idea of im- 
mense strength. His hair and whiskers are thick, 
black, and curly. His face beams with intelligence, 
and, altogether, his appearance is most prepossess- 
ing. For all these reasons one is pained to learn 
that the chief is much addicted to drinking, and that 
he has once been dismissed from his office as judge, 
on account of the habit. But upon presenting to the 
native authorities a cow, some fruit, and a quantity 
of vegetables, he was restored! 

The great token of hospitality, when one enters 
a native house, and especially that of a chief, is the 



Il8 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

preparing and presenting to the guests the native 
drink, called kava, an article never lacking in tip- 
pling Fiji, as we were often convinced, to our sorrow. 
So we are not surprised that Patioli should call for 
kava the moment the conversation waned. In 
Samoa it is considered very rude to refuse to drink 
the beverage, but that is a punishment we can 
hardly inflict upon ourselves; so we will allow 
some pressing engagement to call us away. 

Nearly everybody knows how kava is made, but 
nowadays one can find few things to write about 
which ''nearly everybody'* does not know. There- 
fore, were we to limit ourselves to matters unknown, 
the few who have not learned everything would be 
sadly deprived. For their information, therefore, 
we relate how the native South Pacific drink is 
brewed. Kava is prepared from the root of a spe- 
cies of pepper tree, found on most of these groups. 
The shrub attains a height of five or six feet, and 
has a pretty green foliage, tinged with purple. The 
root, having been thoroughly washed, is cut in 
small slices, which are distributed to young persons 
with perfect teeth, to be masticated, by which proc- 
ess they are reduced to a complete pulp. Mouth- 
ful after mouthful of these little pulpy masses is 
thrown into a large bowl, ceremoniously placed in 
front of the one who is to serve the beverage, and 
water is then poured upon them. The mass is now 
worked with the hand until all the strength and 
virtue of the fiber is expressed, when it is deftly 



OTHER SAMOAN PRODUCTS AND CUSTOMS. II9 

strained away with a bunch of long fiber fi-om the 
inner bark of the hybiscus, and the hquid is now 
ready for drinking. Its appearance is hke that of 
weak tea; its taste Hke that of medicated soap- 
suds. 

Considerable ceremony is observed in partaking 
of the extract. For example, a piece of sinnet rope, 
w^hich is attached to one of the legs of the bowl, is 
first thrown to the man of highest rank in the room, 
to. indicate to the guests his true social position. 
The talking-man — every chief is attended by a talk- 
ing-man, or orator — then takes a cup — the half of 
a cocoanut shell, polished — of the liquid, and with 
great ceremony presents it to the person at whose 
feet lies the sinnet. He quaffs it immediately — to 
sip it is rude — makes his acknowledgments, and 
returns the cup, which the orator then passes to the 
entire group. 

Kava has medicinal qualities of not a little power. 
Drunk to excess, it acts like opium, and the habit 
once formed cannot easily be broken. There are 
white men, on some of the islands in the South 
Seas, who live almost entirely upon the baleful 
preparation. To them it is as much a neces- 
sity as is the morning dram to an inebriate in other 
lands. To the inexperienced, the very thought of 
drinking the stuff is repelling, but if he can sum- 
mon courage to try it, he will find a cup of it re- 
freshing and somewhat nutritive. The natives very 
justly attribute some of their ailments to an inordi- 



I20 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

nate use of it. The habitual kava drinker may be 
recognized by his fishy-looking eyes and the scaly 
appearance of his skin. Kava bowls and cups ac- 
quire by long use a beautiful bluish-bronze tint, 
which renders them highly valuable to the natives. 

Some visitors at Patioli's home are inclined to 
think the terrible associations connected with kava 
drinking are much mitigated by the charms of his 
sister, a young woman who does the honors for 
him. But to this we strongly dissent. To associ- 
ate anything so graceful and pretty as is this little 
princess with a ceremony so aversive and harmful 
as that of kava drinking, but aggravates the evil. 
It must be admitted that pretty maidens are em- 
ployed the world over to serve liquor to men, but 
the service is degrading, and ought not to be toler- 
ated, especially in lands where Christianity is pro- 
fessed. ^^Her Royal Highness," the Princess Coe, 
is a bright little creature, a veritable fairy, in com- 
parison with her gigantic brother. Her tiny hands 
and feet are like velvet. Her sweet oval face is 
lighted by a pair of the most laughing eyes, and 
nothing can exceed the beauty of the two rows 
of small, dazzling white teeth with which she some- 
times masticates the kava root for the refreshment 
of her brother's guests. And no one can surpass 
her in the gracefulness of attitude and manner with 
which she presents the cup of kava, after she has 
prepared it, to the talking-man, to be given to the 
visitors. 

During our sojourn in Fiji, the subject of coral 



OTHER SAMOAN PRODUCTS AND CUSTOMS. 121 

reefs and coral builders was rarely out of mind, but 
opportunity never occurred for visiting one of the 
singular structures, and for studying the amazing 
sights some of them present beneath the surface of 
the waters. 

As the tide is now ebbing, let us take a boat with 
one of these magnificent bronze men to row for and 
guide us, and paddle out to the beautiful coral reef 
which incloses the Bay of Apia. A little way out 
we observe before us a number of canoes apparently 
empty, and they are; but ere we reach them, we 
see human heads bob up from the water, dark 
forms climb up their slender sides, balance them- 
selves an instant, and again plunge into the depths. 
They are men diving for crabs and coral. 

It is a pretty sight. Finer figures were never 
chiseled. Each one is a specimen of perfect physi- 
cal development, and is fit for a model in sculpture. 
But here we are, over the coral plantation, and our 
eyes behold the most fairy-like views it is possible 
to conceive; views reminding one of the transfor- 
mations sometimes witnessed in pantomime, show- 
ing the haunts of mermaids, wondrous scenes 
beneath the sea, and the like. The water is of the 
pale-green tinge peculiar to coral beds, and through 
this the colors of the sea-flowers are doubled in 
beauty and brilliancy. Miniature forests of gorgo- 
nias wave their slender branches over violet-hued 
blossoms, over fronds of delicate, fern-like coral. 
The branches of trees and the golden stamens of 
flowers unknown to us, vibrate amid a net-work of 



122 



THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 



growths which utterly astonish us, and 
which we can liken to nothing we ever 
saw. Here and there among the stone 
grottoes and labyrinths, hang stalactites 
of the most dazzling tints and fascinat- 
ing shapes. All these charming dells and 
groves are filled with rare 
and curious forms of animal 
life, noiseless life, for, so far 
as we know, the realm of 
the fishes is a domain of 
silence. 

Passing and repassing 
among the branching coral 
are countless radiant fish, 
bound on piscatorial busi- 
ness or pleasure. Some are 
purple striped with red. 
Others are bright yellow 
banded with black. Here 
is one with fins of scarlet; 
and here another with fins 
of gold. Conspicuous 
among them all, is a little 
fellow of the most delightful ultramarine 
blue, who proudly holds himself aloof 
from the variegated crowd, as if con- 
scious of his rarer attractions. He is 
the humming-bird of the waters, and after 
poising himself for a moment over one 



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OTHER SAMOAN PRODUCTS AND CUSTOMS. 1 23 

plant, darts away and hovers over another more 
attractive. Great sea centipedes creep Hke snakes 
among the dehcate coral stars. Huge sea-urchins 
and big crabs run and hunt amid the strong sub- - 
marine vegetation which looms up beneath the 
water, tinted like malachite. 

In the shallower parts, wonderful anemones and 
fanciful shells are to be gathered by wading over 
the slippery coral, or by tumbling into the count- 
less deep holes on every hand. It is well on such 
excursions to retain the native w^ho accompanies 
you close at hand, as you doubtless will meet with 
poisonous creatures, the very touching of which 
would be fatal. These natives claim to know the 
properties of every fish in the water, as well as of the 
trees in the forests. Indeed, a know^ledge of natural 
history seems to be almost intuitive with the Sa- 
moan. In the deeper water is sometimes seen a 
great flat fish w^ith a remarkable extension of spine 
which is supposed to be armed w^th a sting. This 
is the sting-ray, and is to be avoided. The barbed 
spinal bone is jagged on both sides like the edge of 
a saw. 

We failed to learn, while in Fiji, what causes the 
always advantageous openings in coral reefs. Some- 
how we w^ere impressed with the idea that they are 
a special arrangement of a kind providence for the 
benefit of fishermen, coral and pearl divers, or ship- 
wrecked seamen, in need of a quiet haven — and so 
we still believe. Nevertheless, they are produced 



124 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

by interesting natural causes. In every harbor 
partially formed by a coral reef there is ever a 
strong underflow and outflow of the water, which 
is constantly pouring over the reef from the sea 
into the harbor; and, besides, there is the daily flow- 
ing and reflowing of the tide. The ground, or bot- 
tom, over which this water moves is by its action 
kept free of coral, sometimes by the deposition of 
earth and sand, which are death to the coral worker, 
and sometimes by its vehement flow through the 
channel. The reef in front of the Bay of Apia has a 
fine opening. 





CHAPTER XIII. 

INTERESTING SAMOA N TOPICS. 



^EV. W. WYATT GILL, who, as a mission- 
ary of the cross, has spent years in coral 
lands, thinks that beyond doubt all these 
island groups were settled by descendants of colo- 
nists, who, centuries ago, came from the peninsula of 
Malay. Perhaps no man has devoted more time 
and study to the absorbing question, ''Whence came 
these thousands of South Pacific people, so diverse 
and yet so much alike?" than has Mr. Gill. He 
has dwelt among them familiarly; has observed care- 
fully their manners and customs ; has studied their 
languages and religion; acquainted himself with 
their traditions and history, primarily that himself 
and his associates might win them to Christ, but 
also that, if possible, he might determine the much- 
disputed question of their origin. His opinions, 
therefore, may well claim our consideration. 

Mr. Gill regards the evidence as conclusive that 
the Tongan and Samoan groups, especially, were 
anciently centers of civilization in the South Pacific, 
and that their inhabitants were originally from 
Southern Asia, the Samoans being the first, proba- 
bly, to leave the parent shore. From these centers 
have passed out colonies, impelled by various con- 

■ (1^5) 



126 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

ditions and circumstances, to other islands, some 
clinging tenaciously to their civilized ways, and 
others, loosening their hold upon the better things, 
drifting backward until they were lost in the night 
of superstition and heathenism. 

The name Samoa means the clan, or family, of 
the Moa, a lineal descendant of whom, still bearing 
the name of Moa, was living on the island of Manu'a, 
of the Samoan group, in 1876. The inhabitants of 
numerous groups possess traditions clearly indicat- 
ing that their ancestors '' came up " long years ago, 
^' out of Savaii," the largest of the Samoan Islands, 
and formerly far more densely populated than at 
present. Most lingual students contend that their 
languages, though in some respects differing widely 
now, are essentially one. This is confirmed by the 
number of letters in their alphabets, most of them 
embracing from twelve to fifteen; and by the exist- 
ence of similar words, having the same meaning, 
in the different dialects. Each group has its own 
dialect, and in some groups there are almost as 
many dialects as islands. 

The steady progress with which the great Malay 
race has spread itself over all the Pacific, from New 
Zealand in the South to the Hawaiian Islands in the 
North, and from Fortuna in the West to Easter Isl- 
and in the far East, is something very remarkable, 
if the great peninsula be the home land from which 
all South Pacific peoples sprang. This position 
would seem to render unnecessary, if not incorrect, 



INTERESTING SAMOAN TOPICS. 12/ 

the plan adopted by modern geographers, of divid- 
ing the vast region of Polynesia into three great 
sections, according to the race distinctions of the 
inhabitants, as we have pointed out in the first 
chapter of this little work. 

Two facts, if no more, seem to attest the antiquity 
of the civilization of the Tongan and Samoan 
groups as compared with that of the Hervey Isl- 
anders, the Tahitians, the New Zealanders, and 
numerous others. The languages of the latter con- 
tain no words for '' thanks," while such expres- 
sions are ever on the lips of the former. Then, the 
tongues of Tonga and Samoa have a chiefs dialect. 
In the Eastern Pacific there is no trace of a chiefs 
language. This would indicate that as the people 
emigrated the dialect for the upper class was lost. 

The first missionaries to the Hervey group were 
struck with the similarity to the Hebrew in the 
conjugation of the verbs of the language, as we 
ourselves have been with the laws and traditions of 
Fiji and Samoa, which evince at least a long past 
familiarity with Hebrew laws and history, as well 
as with some of their more important usages. 

Of all quarters of the globe, Samoa is one of the 
last in which one would expect to find nuns, and 
yet here they are, in all respects as we find them 
elsewhere. To-day there is to take place in the 
Catholic Church at Apia the ceremony of taking 
the veil, by a native girl. It being our first oppor- 
tunity of witnessing the rite, let us walk up to the 



128 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

mission and be present. At the hour appointed, 
a procession of white nuns enters the church, each 
holding in her hand a long lighted candle. The 
latter part of the train is composed of brown or 
native nuns, leading between them the young pro- 
bationer dressed in white. The white nuns having 
arranged themselves on each side of the altar, 
cease their chanting, and then is heard the faint 
voice of the candidate only. A series of mysteri- 
ous and impressive ceremonies now take place, 
accompanied by strains of music, sometimes soft 
and low, at others joyful and triumphant ; and when 
all is ended, the Samoan maiden, wonderfully self- 
possessed all the time, is one of the strange sister- 
hood. 

We see no reason for envying her the position 
she now holds. Neither do we wish to emulate 
her example. We infinitely prefer our natural 
home life and the duties which grow out of it, 
duties to parents, to brothers and sisters, and all 
others with whom we associate. Around such a 
life no false glamour is thrown by showy ritual. 
The church we find crowded with natives, who ap- 
pear to enjoy the sight immensely, yet not a tenth 
of them, probably, understand the import of the 
service. The display and mysticism of the Romish 
Church, on such occasions, are well calculated to 
dazzle the senses and instill awe into the minds of 
the heathen, who, in their own religious rites, in- 
variably use emblems which appeal to the feelings. 



INTERESTING SAMOAN TOPICS. 1 29 

The Samoans are really amazed, as well they may 
be, at the power and resources of the priests, and 
to the extent their feelings are worked upon, they 
dread their displeasure. Still, in spite of this, the 
number of native Roman Catholics in Samoa is 
said to be small, — about five thousand. There are 
also about the same number of Wesleyans. This 
leaves the remainder of the population to be con- 
nected with the London Missionary Society, a state- 
ment which makes all the inhabitants professors of 
religion. But this is not evidence that one-half of 
them have any enlightened ideas on the subject. 
That some of them have is undeniable. There are 
native Samoan preachers who not only understand, 
but have experienced, the real significance of the 
life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We must not omit to say that the Samoans are 
prompt attendants at church. In Apia not only 
are they present at their own services, but also at 
those of the white people. It is really quite inter- 
esting to see them trooping down to church, dressed 
in their best mats and tappas. Those who possess 
shoes and shirts bring them in their hands and don 
them at the church door. Most of them have 
Bibles carefully wrapped in white tappa, and when 
service begins it seems to be a pleasure to them to 
all give utterance, by the aid of books, to the same 
sounds at the same moment. From this it will 
readily be inferred that they ''read in concert" very 
nicely. By the way, concert of sound, made by 

9 



130 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

the voice, is an accomplishment the Samoans excel 
in. They sing in perfect time. And every Sunday 
hundreds of them may be heard singing the Chris- 
tian hymns. 

The moment the service closes, those who have 
not already found their garments too warm, remove 
them at the door, and, throwing them upon the 
arm, wend their way homeward, to eat and sleep 
until the next meeting. There is no danger of 
their oversleeping, for the hour of service is pro- 
claimed by the beating of wooden drums, which 
make an aggravating din, and can be heard a long 
way off, utterly banishing slumber. 

Sunday is most scrupulously observed by the 
natives. Nothing can induce them to sell anything 
on that day. And any vessel arriving at the island 
on Sunday must wait until next day to obtain fresh 
fruits and provisions. We once heard of an En- 
glish gentleman who tried to purchase a rare neck- 
lace of an old lady in the native town near Apia, 
on a Sunday. She firmly refused to part with the 
article on that day, but promised to bring it in to 
him on Monday, and she kept her engagement. 
No fishing is permitted on Sunday, and every canoe 
is hauled upon the beach. No one rides on horse- 
back, nor climbs a tree for a cocoanut. Thus the 
day is more rigidly observed than in old Scotland, 
where '^new milk" and ''mackerel" were allowed 
to be sold on Sunday. 

One hears the native teachers of Samoa highly 



INTERESTING SAMOAN TOPICS. I3I 

extolled for their devoutness and capability. They 
were the early converts of the missionaries in the 
islands, and have labored with great assiduity among 
the people. Formerly, native priests were the 
only teachers. That they did their utmost to 
arouse fear and superstition in the people, as did 
those in Figi, their traditions fully attest. They 
ascribed the simplest phenomena of nature to the 
power of evil spirits who could be appeased only 
with sacrifices and offerings. They thus enriched 
themselves at the expense of the people, who paid 
a high price for being deceived. In those days the 
power of the priest in Samoa equaled that of the 
king, as the subjoined and much-condensed histor- 
ical sketch confirms: — 

Until 1837, the ^^^^ of government was on the 
island of Manu'a, less than a mile in length and 
breadth. Here resided the king, the royal family, 
including Moa, descendant of the great Moa who 
colonized the group, the high functionaries of state, 
and most of the leading aristocratic families of Sa- 
moa, and in no country was social rank more 
sharply defined. To Manu'a the people of the group 
sent tributes of fine mats, pork, tappa, and kava. 
At that time there were continual disputes between 
the Samoan and Tonga people, and, strangely 
enough, they were all about a fishing ground — we 
know something of such harangues between the 
United States and England to-day. 

One morning of April, that year, a fleet of ten 



132 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

canoes set sail from Tonga, and landed in the dead 
of night at Felialupe, the largest village on the isl- 
and of Savaii. They rushed upon the doomed com- 
munity with spear, and club, and fagot; set fire to 
the houses, and slaughtered the inmates. At break 
of day, wild with joy and sated with blood, they 
returned to their canoes with twelve captive maidens 
of high rank. A few of the Samoans who had escaped 
sounded the alarm, and shortly a number of brave 
and fierce Savaiians rushed to the shore to release 
the captive maidens and to avenge the dead. The 
Tongans were launching their boats, about to push 
off, when the Samoans, with fearful shouts and yells, 
were in their midst. The encounter was terrible. 
Parties were battling on land and on water. They 
wrestled on the rolling deck, until, locked in deadly 
embrace, both fell into the water; and, both being 
equally good swimmers, fought, until one fell be- 
neath the mighty club of the other. The conflict 
raged until noon, when the Tongans found safety 
in flight, leaving three hundred dead on the field, 
besides numbers who were captured and held as 
slaves. Sixty, only, escaped, with but one canoe 
of the entire fleet. All this sounds very ill for the 
two great ''centers of civilization " in the coral seas, 
but have not nations far more civilized fought bat- 
tles far bloodier, and with weapons far more deadly 
than clubs, long since 1837? 

When the news of this encounter reached Manu'a, 
the Samoan seat of government, a speedy council 



INTERESTING SAMOAN TOPICS. 133 

of war was called, urged on by the high priest, a 
bold, violent, unprincipled man, who combined in 
himself the threefold office of w^arrior, priest, and 
prophet. His voice was for immediate death to the 
prisoners. This proposal the calm-tempered king 
instantly vetoed. Retaliation was rather to be 
sought by invading Tonga. But while preparations 
were making for this step, ambassadors arrived 
from that nation to negotiate the release of the 
prisoners. 

The king received them with much reserve; the 
high priest, with insult and reproaches. After pro- 
longed observances and the delivery of gifts by the 
Tongans, they were admitted to an audience in the 
public square. This audience continued ten days. 
The utmost courtesy and etiquette were observed. 
Some of the speeches occupied an entire day. Dur- 
ing the time, the king and his great chiefs sat in a 
circle two hundred feet in diameter, and behind 
them a multitude of the common people. 

The king, eighty years of age, opened the confer- 
ence with a long and conciliatory speech, in which 
he urged his subjects to hear the envoys with such 
courtesy and respect as became a people conscious 
of the justice of their cause. Then the ambassa- 
dors deplored the wicked attack on Samoa, saying 
their old and wise men had forbidden it, '' but wis- 
dom had been drowned in the hot blood of young 
men." The brave warriors of Samoa had deservedly 
punished them. Now^ if Samoa and Tonga would 



134 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

but make a friendly alliance, the two nations might 
dictate to their enemies. The venerable king was 
keenly alive to the advantages of such a confed- 
eracy, and expressed satisfaction and concurrence. 

But now uprose the high priest, who made a vio- 
lent harangue, in which he insisted that the burning 
of Felialupe must be avenged, and rudely re- 
proached the king with weakness, cowardice, and 
dotage. He then boldly avowed his determination 
to sweep from his path all who opposed the work 
of retribution. These direful words caught the 
popular ear, voiced the popular desire. A violent 
commotion then ensued, during which the unmoved 
king commanded the immediate release of the pris- 
oners. 

Up to this stage in the proceedings the high 
priest had spoken in his capacity as warrior and 
priest only. Now, however, he vaunched forth as 
a prophet. Foaming at the mouth, quaking in 
every limb, as was his wont when in communion 
with the Great Spirit, he prophesied evil for Samoa ; 
'*that, ere the moon had thrice filled her horns, a 
black cloud would settle upon the islands; brother 
would fight against brother; Samoan blood would 
flow on Samoan soil as freely as water." The coun- 
cil then broke up in much disorder, and the am- 
bassadors, with their released countrymen, departed 
in peace. But the high priest from that moment 
prepared for revolution, and made offerings to his 
gods. In three weeks, through his traitorous 



INTERESTING SAMOAN TOPICS. 1 3.5 

scheming, Samoa was plunged in civil war, this 
time, certainly, not '^through the intrigues of foreign 
adventurers." In two months the aged king was 
deposed, and, with his family, dispatched to Upolo, 
the high priest assuming the reins of government. 
The usurper lived three years only. In 1840 he 
died, having secured the kingdom to his daughter, 
Avola, then but sixteen years old. 

In due time Avola, who was beautiful and of 
kindly disposition, made a progress throughout the 
isles of her kingdom, according to Samoan custom. 
She was attended by the magistrates of the realm, 
and everywhere was received with profound homage 
and veneration. The daughter of a famous warrior, 
high priest, and prophet, she was profoundly re- 
spected, even by those who fought against her 
father. But her youth, her beauty, and, above all, 
the graciousness of her disposition, charmed her 
friends, and at once conciliated those who were un- 
friendly to the new dynasty. 

Arriving upon the lovely island of Upolo, the 
noble king and the princes, his sons, hastened to meet 
her and to present their gifts. Far from manifesting 
any jealousy, they cordially welcomed her to their 
place of exile. At sight of the fallen monarch and 
the magnanimous bearing of his sons, the young 
queen wept in their presence. The interview was 
considered a happy omen. '' How could future ca- 
lamity to Samoa be more rationally averted than by 
the marriage of Avola with one of the king's sons?" 



136 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

asked the sagacious Samoan statesmen. But, alas, 
for the forecastings of such men ! Avola's heart was 
already another's. She returned to her throne in 
Manu'a. There followed great feasting and rejoic- 
ing. After a banquet in the evening, many of the 
youths and maidens assembled on the beach to dance 
and sing in the moonlight. On a crag near, but 
screened from view, sat the young queen and her 
betrothed. There was held a brief conversation, 
couched in the beautiful symbolism so much em- 
ployed by these Southern Pacific peoples, when, 
rising to his feet, the youth laid his rich mantle of 
tappa in the lap of Avola, stepped lightly to the 
edge of the crag, and sprung into the sea. 

The young queen cried, ''O Thama, stay, stay!*' 
It was too late. Thama would not stand in the 
way of Samoan peace and unity. 

Instantly there followed a wild cry of agony, and 
a second plunge from the cliff. The low v/aves 
then sung a tender dirge over Samoa's lovely queen 
and the unselfish Thama. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

OTHER WONDERS OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS. 

''E will now step into this canoe with this 
polite, fine-looking native, and learn how 
the great sea-turtle is caught by daylight. 
Yes, night is the best time to watch for 
them, but we prefer not to venture far from shore 
after dark. Should we chance upon one to-day, we 
shall surprise him sleeping, and his capture will 
prove no great feat, since we shall not be obliged — 
as is sometimes the case — to mount the monster 
and take a ride among the sharks. The turtle 
sleeps soundly during the day, and we shall paddle 
alongside noiselessly, when these men will carefully 
lift him on board before he gets an idea of what is 
going on. The creature rarely attempts to bite, 
and is quite kind and harmless, except when 
floundering about. He can then give a severe 
blow with his flippers if he likes. Should our capt- 
ure prove too heavy for the party to lift, a cable, 
dexterously slipped around him, will tow him to 
land. 

Sometimes turtles do not try to escape the pres- 
ence of men, and frequently a number of them are 
in company. In such cases, as many men as there 
are turtles approach them gently in a canoe, jump 

(137) 



OTHER WONDERS OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS. I 39 

overboard, spring upon their backs, and with the 
hands clasp the shell just behind the neck. This 
prevents the fish from ''sounding" — going down 
head foremost — as the turtle never fails to do when 
alarmed, if not prevented by the weight of a man 
on his back. A turtle has invented no other plan 
for getting rid of his rider than by diving, so now he 
is quite helpless and allows himself to be steered in 
any direction his captor chooses. Thus is he soon 
brought alongside the canoe and hoisted in without 
a struggle. All this appears to us like a simple bit 
of acting, and yet it really requires very great skill. 
A turtle in the water can cut a naked man very 
dangerously with his flippers, and he must never 
be seized by the tail. As surely as he is, he will 
immediately fold his tail very close to his body, 
and thus hold the hand as tight as if in a vice, and 
in that situation drag the man to the bottom of the 
sea. 

Turtles never venture inside the lagoons of isl- 
ands, except the entrance be wide and the tide 
flowing freely. They object to warm or stagnant 
water, but enjoy the fresh spray dashing upon the 
outer reefs. They are as fond of beche de mer as is 
a Chinaman, and in search of the slugs will hazard 
entering the shallow water at the top of a reef. On 
these occasions the male and female turtles are always 
in company. By far the greater number of turtles 
are captured on low, sandy beaches — as is particu- 
larly the case at Vu-ni-wai Levu — where they re- 



140 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

sort to lay their eggs at night. Full moon is their 
favorite time. Then the female sails into shore, 
while her mate remains outside beyond the break- 
ers, watching for her return. Of course she 
lands with a high in-going tide and goes to sea 
again with the next flood, so she spends several 
hours ashore. Should daylight overtake her before 
high water, she makes her way out to the reef and 
there lies perfectly still until the tide comes in, never 
attempting to move, not even when trodden upon 
by men searching for other fish. Thus the natives 
often capture them. 

When the turtle lands to lay, she proceeds well 
up the beach, above high-water mark, frequently 
under the shadow of trees, and there scratches out 
a large circular cavity, throwing the sand out with 
her flippers. As she turns round and round, the 
hollow becomes as smooth as a basin, and suffi- 
ciently deep to let her sink below the surface of the 
ground. Then, in the middle of this pit, she digs a 
small perpendicular cavity about as deep as the 
length of a man's arm, and therein deposits her eggs 
to the number of about one hundred, and, refilling 
the excavation, returns to the sea. As she leaves 
the nest she traces a broad track in the sand. You 
perceive that, though a man may easily find the 
path of a turtle, it is not so easy to find her eggs. 
Often on bright moonlight nights native fishers may 
be found walking upon the beach, after high tide, 
looking for indications of turtle visits. 



OTHER WONDERS OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS. I4I 

Should he discover the pathway, but not succeed 
in capturing the turtle, he can generally determine 
if she has recently been on the spot, and if there be 
no tokens of a late visit, he will arrange to be at 
the place on the ninth night from that time. 
Should he not then find her, he will try the eight- 
eenth night, well convinced that, if no accident has 
occurred, her presence is assured at one of those 
periods, and exactly at the spot, or about a cable's 
length to leeward — never to windward. Should 
she return on the eighteenth night after her first 
appearance, she may be expected no more, or cer- 
tainly not until the following year. 

It seems to us a curious thing that a creature so 
strikingly stupid in appearance as the turtle should 
display so marvelous an instinct in the observance 
of times and seasons, and, moreover, that she should 
show such marked cleverness in concealing her eggs. 
Should she perceive a man in the neighborhood, 
instead of instantly rushing away, as we would ex- 
pect, she will lie quietly for hours as though wait- 
ing for his departure; but if the turtle hunter 
advances, and she sees that escape, by this bit of 
harmless acting, is impossible, she will start for the 
beach at an astonishing rate, but, sadly enough, is 
almost sure to be caught. The hunter will quickly 
manage to turn her on her back, and then her fate 
is sealed. ' 

Turning them over is easily accomplished by an 
observing man. A turtle's mode of locomotion on 



142 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

land is to wriggle from side to side with sudden 
jerks, making short strokes with her flippers. In 
doing this she inclines a little to one side at each 
stroke; the man watches, and at just the right in- 
stant turns her over. The turtle moves about some 
little time after death, and unless the head is re- 
moved close to the base of the skull, death will not 
wholly ensue until decomposition commences. It 
is claimed that the most humane instrument for 
killing them is a sharp ax. One mode, practiced 
by the islanders, is to strike them on the back of 
the head with a club. Then a bundle of dry leaves 
is ignited and swept over the shell. This step loosens 
the plates, which are at once removed. The under 
part of the shell is then split from the upper, and 
the flesh is cut up. 

When a turtle is caught in coral land, be it large 
or small, the flesh is divided among all the inhabit- 
ants of the village where the captors live, and some- 
times, as we might expect, a very small piece comes 
to each individual. The usual weight of a full- 
grown turtle is four hundred and fifty pounds, but 
occasionally the weight mounts up to seven hun- 
dred pounds. The turtle is profitable, not only for 
its shell, but for the oil it contains — not less than 
ten gallons from the larger ones. The usual price 
of the oil is ;^io per gallon. 

Turtle shell is a valuable product of the South 
Pacific, and throughout the isles certain laws regu- 
late the fishing. In most groups, whoever — man 



OTHER WONDERS OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS. 1 43 

or woman — first discovers a turtle, is entitled to the 
shell. This is precious to the natives, aside from 
its price in money, as numerous ornaments and arti- 
cles of domestic service are made from it. Of the 
thicker portions they fashion ear-rings, finger-rings, 
bracelets, spoons, knives, and fish-hooks. The 
knives are formed of the blade bones, and for ordi- 
nary purposes are as effective as steel knives, pos- 
sessing an edge it would be unwise to run the 
finger over carelessly. Sharpening is a process 
they seldom require. 

The eggs of the turtle are perfectly round, and 
about the size of a small ball. The shell is not brit- 
tle, but like parchment. The natives eat them, but 
they are anything but palatable to a European. A 
gentleman residing on Savu-Savu Bay, island of 
Vanua Levu, once killed a turtle containing three 
hundred eggs, but about one-third that many is the 
usual number laid. The infant turtles are hatched 
in about a month after the eggs are laid, are per- 
fectly formed, about the size of a large crown piece, 
and are at once ready to start out to the battle for 
life. Various birds of prey and the great land-crab 
are their enemies, and manage to capture numbers 
of the little fellows. 

We have learned how the turtle is captured; let 
us now see how it is cooked. In some islands — as 
once was the case in Fiji — all turtles were claimed 
by the king, or the local chief For their eating, 
the plates were removed from the back, and the 



144 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

animal placed whole in an oven of hot stones, and 
baked. If the royal circle was not large enough to 
consume the entire body at one meal, the remainder 
was preserved in this ingenious manner: The fish 
is baked in the shell, back downwards ; the hollow of 
the shell soon fills with melted fat or oil. This is 




THE ROBBER CRAB. 



laded out and placed aside until wanted. After the 
meal, the meat that remains is cut in pieces about 
the size of a man's hand, and laid in cocoanut shells. 
These are then nearly filled with the oil, and over 
the top a large green leaf is tied. Then they are 
placed in safe keeping until wanted. When re- 
quired, they are again put in the oven and heated. 
In this manner turtle steaks may be preserved an 



OTHER WONDERS OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS. 1 45 

indefinite time. Are they a delicious meat ?— Well, 
the natives relish them, but to our mind the South 
Pacific scarcely furnishes a more disagreeable dish. 

Sponges, among the most curious creatures of 
the animal kingdom, form another profitable indus- 
try of the coral isles. It was long supposed that 
the fine bath sponges of the Mediterranean, the 
Red Sea, and the Bahama Islands, were scarcely 
equaled in other parts of the world, but from some 
localities in this great archipelago come as soft and 
beautiful specimens as can be found in any market. 
Like all other pursuits in which the art of diving is 
practiced, much skill and experience are required 
to insure success. 

They grow on the coral, and very much in its 
deep recesses, and in a living state are very diffi- 
cult to discern, as they seem to be a part of the 
stone itself. When first dislodged, they are hard, 
heavy, slimy, and as black as tar. The finest are 
in the form of a mushroom and vary in size from 
that of a man's hand to two feet in diameter. 
Usually, the lagoons are their place of abode, and 
they are found at any depth not below two fathoms. 
In other waters they are brought up from any dis- 
tance not exceeding one hundred fathoms. Sponges 
are the habitations of animalculae, which, in the 
process of bleaching and cleansing, are entirely 
destroyed and removed. 

There are various modes of accomplishing this 
object. Here, we observe, a sandy beach has been 
chosen for the purpose, because there is a strong 
10 



146 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

ebb and flow of the tide. A number of forked 
sticks have been driven into the sand, and upon 
these have been laid slender poles, forming an airy 
frame-work. From these poles the sponges are 
suspended by cords, and when the tide is in, they 
float in the water freely. When the tide is out, they 
are exposed to the wind and sun, decomiposing the 
living organisms. Thus by repeated scorchings 
and washings, the sponges become cleansed, 
bleached, and softened. A finishing touch may be 
added by immersing them in hot fresh water in- 
fused with lye from wood ashes. 

Another method is to expose them to the air and 
sun until the little animals are destroyed, then 
immediately they are either rapidly beaten with a 
stick, or are trodden by the feet in a stream of flow- 
ing water, until the skin and all soft tissue are re- 
moved. Should this treading and washing be 
delayed, but for a few hours, after the sponge has 
been exposed a whole day, to completely purify it 
would be next to impossible. When cleansed, they 
are hung in the air to dry, and are then packed in 
bales. If packed before the drying is complete, 
the sponges heat, and there appears upon them 
orange-yellow spots, termed ^^ sponge cholera "by 
the fishers of the Mediterranean. This discolor 
must not be confused with the natural red tint pos- 
sessed by many sponges, especially near their un- 
ion with the stone. 

One finds himself deeply interested in the various 
methods by which sponges are brought up from 



OTHER WONDERS OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS. 1 4/ 

the sea. In quite shallow water they may be 
hooked up by a harpoon. Lying at greater depths, 
thirty or forty fathoms, for instance, the services of 
a diver are generally required, but from the deep 
sea they are dredged with a net. Harpooning was 
the earliest method employed. The harpoon is a 
five-pronged fork, with a long wooden handle. 
Sometimes one harpoon fails to reach the coveted 
treasure, then two are spliced together. In diving, 
the man carries a net attached to his neck to hold 
the treasure. The moment he reaches the bottom, 
he hastily snatches whatever sponges he sees, then 
pulls violently at the cord and is instantly drawn 
up. He has been down two minutes, perhaps, at 
the utmost but three, probably at a depth of twenty- 
five fathoms or less. Upon being received into the 
boat, he takes several powerful respirations, and 
speedily recovers from the effect of his plunge. 

But if his descent reached from thirty to forty 
fathoms, he comes to the surface in a swooning 
state. If, after a descent, blood flows from the 
mouth and nostrils, the man is regarded as being 
in good condition. Should this symptom be want- 
ing, the diver will hardly venture a second plunge 
that season. You perceive that the profession of 
the sponge diver is not an enviable one, neither is 
it always lucrative. He frequently returns to the 
surface empty-handed. The pursuit is rarely car- 
ried on in cold weather, or if it be, a diver's dress 
is worn. The descent takes place from a ship an- 



148 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

chored out from shore, and manned by eight or 
nine men besides the diver. 

At certain points in Florida sponge farming is 
meeting with some success, and also in some for- 
eign countries. The method is worthy our atten- 
tion for a moment. Fine specimens, in an unin- 
jured state, are selected, placed on a board, moistened 
with sea-water, and, with a knife or fine saw, cut 
into pieces one inch square, care being taken to 
preserve the outer skin unbroken. This operation 
should take place in winter, because exposure to the 
air is then less fatal than in summer. The bits are 
then skewered to bamboo rods — three on each rod. 
The rods are now fastened in upright positions be- 
tween two upright boards, and sunk to the bottom 
of the sea, weighted with stones. 

In choosing territory for a sponge farm, one must 
avoid submarine springs and the mouths of rivers, 
because in such spots there is liable to be mud, and 
that, in sponge growing, as in coral building, is 
fatal to the little workers. Sheltered bays, with 
smooth, rocky bottom, overgrown with green sea- 
weed, and freshened by gentle waves and currents, 
make the sponge feel at home and happy. In such 
situations, the small cuttings w^ill in one year grow 
to two or three times their original size, and at the 
end of five or seven years are large enough for the 
market. Five or seven years ! Ah, this will be the 
drawback to sponge farming in the nineteenth cent- 
ury! Few Americans, certainly, are willing to wait 
so long as that for returns from their investments. 




CHAPTER XV. 



OUR RELATIONS WITH SAMOA. 



we take seat this morning in the shadow 
of these tall cocoanut trees and look off at 
the shipping anchored in the harbor, we 
notice that two or three of the crafts display the 
dear home flag. The sight of the beautiful banner 
is inspiring and brings to our remembrance the 
active part taken for some years past by the United 
States Government in the national affairs of Samoa. 
The subject forms an interesting chapter of history, 
familiar, we are inclined to believe, to few of our 
people. We can hardly spend this hour to better 
purpose than by reviewing the important circum- 
stances which will carry us not farther back than 
General Grant's administration. 

President Grant's attention was early called to 
the necessity of possessing, in the South Pacific, 
coaling stations for United States cruisers in time 
of war, and ports, also, which should serve as de- 
pots of supplies and places for repairs, not only for 
the navy but also for our mercantile vessels. Per- 
ceiving the desirability of such facilities, the Pres- 
ident dispatched Col. A. B. Steinberger to the 
Samoan Islands to thoroughly investigate the situa- 
tion, the safety of the harbors, their advantages as 
coaling stations, and the commercial prospects in 
the islands. Colonel Steinberger's report was sent 
to Congress by the President, April i, 1874. At 
this time, also, the Samoans addressed a letter to 

(149) 



I^O THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

President Grant requesting the United States Gov- 
ernment to aid them in forming a government for 
themselves, asking for the protection of our coun- 
try, and offering annexation to the United States. 
Colonel Steinberger was immediatly returned to 
Samoa as American commissioner. He sailed from 
Honolulu, for these islands, in the United States ship 
Tuscarora^ Henry Erben commander. The Tus- 
caroj^a entered this harbor in March, 1875. 

Immediately the Samoan chiefs were informed of 
her arrival, of the presence of Colonel Steinberger 
on board, of the object of his visit, and that he was 
the bearer to them of a letter from President Grant. 
The chiefs appointed April i for receiving the com- 
missioner. They then asked that time be given 
them to assemble the petty ships, and to receive 
properly the President's letter, requesting twenty- 
two days for the purpose. 

The days interveining before the assembly were 
passed in daily conventions, at which were carefully 
explained the provisions of the proposed Samoan 
constitution, every article being gone over until all 
seemed to be thoroughly understood. The new 
government was based upon the Taimura — a sort of 
senate — -composed of seven chiefs elected each year 
by the remaining chiefs. Malietoa Laupepa, a man 
of noble character and statesman-like abilities, was 
chosen king. 

On April 22, all the chiefs having convened, 
Commander Erben attended the council, and Gen- 
eral Grant's letter was presented to King Malietoa, 
who handed it to the commander to read. A trans- 
lation of the same into the Samoan language was 
also read by Dr. George A. Turner, of the London 
Missionary Society's Medical Mission. Colonel 
Steinberger then explained to the people the im- 



OUR RELATIONS WITH SAMOA. I5I 

portance of the occasion, and the meaning of the 
articles of the constitution. The new flag for the 
government had been brought out by the Tuscarora. 
It consisted of seven stripes — red and white — rep- 
resenting the seven islands of which the group is 
composed, with a white star in a blue ground, 
emblematic of the island of Upolo as the seat of 
government. This flag was now shown them, and 
the commissioner proposed its adoption, which at 
once took place amid much enthusiasm. The en- 
sign was then hoisted in the public square and 
saluted with twenty-one guns, by the Tuscarora, 
The next step was to notify the foreign officials of 
the adoption of the fliag and the constitution. 

Arrangements had of course been made for a 
parade to follow, and it is said to have been a very 
grand and picturesque affair. Fully eight thousand 
persons were in procession, all dressed in fancy 
costumes, and marching splendidly, each village by 
itself, preceded by pretty brunette maidens clad in 
their richest feather robes, brilliantly colored. As 
they advanced, the men performed athletic exploits 
and feats of arms, showing their war maneuvers. 
We can imagine how impressive was all this, with 
their splendid figures, animated features, and radi- 
ant adornments. 

The parade and ceremonies over, the foreign 
consuls and missionaries called upon Commander 
Erben and pledged their aid in strengthening the 
newly-formed government. The great chiefs tar- 
ried at Apia until a code of laws was formed, very 
simple in their nature, and relating only to trading, 
revenue, and three or four leading crimes. The 
laws touching liquor selling were regarded as very 
arbitrary by those engaged in the business in the 
islands. The Tuscarora remained in harbor lon£ 



152 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

enough to see that the new machinery was running 
nicely, and then returned to Honolulu. Thus, under 
the auspices of the United States, was inaugurated, 
April 22, 1875, the Government of Samoa. 

The reign of Malietoa was quiet and prosperous 
until about the close of 1884, when foreign intrigue 
became active, and finally resulted in attaching the 
sovereign rights of the king to the municipality of 
Apia, by Germany. By this time also Tamasese, 
the vice-king, openly rebelled against the govern- 
ment, being supported by foreign representatives, 
who, for their own interests, had determined the 
overthrow of Malietoa. And eventually the latter 
'^was seized and exiled to a distant island in the 
Western Pacific. 

King Malietoa Laupepa was the highest born of 
all Samoans, being a direct descendant, through 
twenty-three generations, of Savea Malietoa I. 
When proclaimed king, he was immediately recog- 
nized as such by England, Germany, and the United 
States. Tamasese, a high chief, was at the same 
time chosen vice-king. Malietoa had been care- 
fully educated at the mission school in Apia. He 
was a man of studious habits, of remarkable single- 
ness of heart, was calm and Christian-like, was 
beloved and revered by his people, and by them 
considered a man of m.uch learning. 

During the nine years of Malietoa's reign, and 
indeed for some years prior to that, German influ- 
ence had been strong in the island, and it is to- 
day a well-known fact that at the time the Samoan 
Government was founded, Germany cherished a de- 
sire, if not a fixed purpose, to acquire control of the 
group as a colonial possession of the empire. It 
can hardly be questioned that as early as 1875, 
there was a quiet understanding to this effect be- 
tween Chancellor Bismarck and certain very wealthy 



OUR RELATIONS WITH SAMOA. 1 53 

German business men living in Samoa. But the 
occurrence of unexpected and calamitous events in 
Europe required all Prince Bismarck's attention, 
and for a time frustrated the Samoan scheme. 

From 1875, when Malietoa was made king, down 
to 1887, there had existed an agreement between 
Germany and England to respect Samoan neutrality, 
and with the United States there was a diplomatic 
understanding to the same effect. In the latter year 
there was held in the city of Washington, a confer- 
ence, at which the three powers considered their 
separate relations with Samoa. The meeting re- 
sulted — notwithstanding England's willingness to 
give Germany predominance in the islands — in an 
agreement to respect the neutrality of Samoa, and 
to allow her people to elect their own rulers. Any 
other course would have been in violation of treaty 
rights with the Samoans, possessed by the United 
States since 1878. This treaty conceded to Samoa 
the privileges, in this respect, which are granted 
to other governments. Indeed, each of the three 
powers possessed its treaty with the Samoan Gov- 
ernment, and their rights ran side by side, so much 
so, that any superiority of one would clash with 
the interests of the other. 

As may be supposed, after the deportation of 
Malietoa, there existed continual internal strife in 
Samoa. In arms against the usurper, Tamasese, 
was the great chief, Mataafa. Both were deter- 
mined to gain the ascendency. During all this 
time, too, the Germans had taken a high hand in 
Samoan affairs, which finally resulted in an open 
conflict between themselves and the natives. To- 
gether with Great Britain, they recognized Tamasese 
as king. They proclaimed war against Mataafa, 
to whose standard flocked the people; they declared 
martial law; bombarded the villages j searched En- 



154 ' THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

glish vessels; suppressed the English newspaper 
at Apia ; assumed control of the post-ofifice ; de- 
stroyed the property of American citizens, and 
threatened to bombard the town of Apia, and to 
do other arbitrary things. Information of these 
proceedings having reached Washington, the gov- 
ernment telegraphed Minister Pendleton as follows : 
^* You will temperately, but decidedly, in oral con- 
ference, notify the German Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs, that we expect nothing will be done to im- 
pair the rights of the United States under existing 
treaty with Samoa," etc. Thereupon Count Bis- 
marck telegraphed the German Consul at Apia 
that ''annexation was impracticable on account of 
the diplomatic agreement with England and the 
United States." 

At this stage of affairs Admiral Kimberly, in 
command of the ship of war T^^eitton^ was dis- 
patched to the scene of trouble, with instructions 
to inquire into the circumstances, and to oppose the 
subjugation of the native government of Samoa, 
as a violation of positive agreement between the 
three powers. Meantime Chancellor Bismarck, 
who had requested the co-operation of the United 
States in affairs at the islands, was informed that 
the American Government was willing to aid in 
restoring order in Samoa, on the basis of the pres- 
ervation of the complete independence of the peo- 
ple, and that Germany had overstepped the bounds 
recognized in the law of nations, when she pre- 
sumed to subject American citizens to martial law. 

Hereupon, Prince Bismarck telegraphed the na- 
val commander at Apia to withdraw his proclama- 
tion of martial law, so far as it applied to foreign- 
ers, and also to Consul Knappe to retract his 
demand to have the control of the islands tempo- 
rarily given into his hand, and to desist from try- 



OUR RELATIONS WITH SAMOA. 1 55 

ing to coerce the native administration. About the 
same time, or on January 19, 1889, the German 
Premier proposed to the United States a renewal 
of the conference of 1887. The government ac- 
cepted the invitation on condition, that in the inter- 
val, Germany's warlike operations in Samoa should 
cease. In his letter the chancellor stated that Ger- 
many would not call in question the independence 
of Samoa, nor the equal rights of the three powers. 

Accordingly, the German authorities at Apia 
withdrew the decree of martial law and relinquished 
the right of search. Mataafa remained in his in- 
trenched camp with a following of six thousand 
men. Tamasese occupied the fort at Zuatuanu, 
with six hundred insurgents. Dr. Stiebel was or- 
dered to the islands to replace Consul Knappe, 
who was recalled. Thus did Germany recede from 
her attempt to gain supremacy in the Samoan Isl- 
ands. And thus are we brought down in their his- 
tory to March ii, 1889. On that day Admiral 
Kimberly, with the Trenton^ entered the Bay of 
Apia and immediately offered to co-operate with the 
German and British authorities in establishing peace 
and order in the islands, at the same time admon- 
ishing Mataafa and Tamasese to await the result of 
the conference. 

This conference convened on the 29th of April. 
On June 14 a general treaty was signed by the 
plenipotentiaries, which contained numerous provis- 
ions to be observed by all the powers, and secured 
the independence of Samoa. About the time the 
conference began its labors. King Malietoa was 
brought back from exile, set free, and told by the 
German representatives to ''do as he pleased." He 
was soon restored to his sovereignty, and is nov/ 
king of Samoa. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

CYCLONES IN THE CORAL SEAS. 

k 

T is quite impossible for us to rehearse all 
these stirring events, so many of which 
took place on these very shores, or to recall 
the presence on this bay of Admiral Kimberly and 
the Trenton^ without being painfully reminded of a 
sad disaster which took place inside this reef but little 
over a year ago ; a disaster which sent the greatest 
dismay to many hearts both in Germany and in our 
own fair land. The Bay of Apia then presented a 
scene of horror which lasted through hours of fear 
and dread, and certainly in this harbor never had its 
parallel. Shall we not try to picture to ourselves 
that scene, if for no other reason than as a sort of 
tender tribute to the memory of our brave country- 
men, who in that fearful hour found graves among 
these beautiful coral caverns ? 

Four days after the arrival of Admiral Kimberly, 
or in the night of March 15, 1889, there swept over 
these islands a hurricane of terrific violence. Then 
riding at anchor in the Bay of Apia were seven 
ships of war and fifteen merchant vessels. Before 
the storm ceased every one of them was either to- 
tally destroyed, or stranded on the shore. The war- 
ships, one English, three German, and three Ameri- 
can, were all anchored near together, and when the 
(156) 



CYCLONES IN THE CORAL SEAS. I 5/ 

gale began, their engines were set to work to relieve 
the cables. Still the vessels dragged their anchors, 
and repeatedly were dashed one against another, 
and most of them were driven furiously upon the 
ragged reef, on the western side of the bay. 

The German gun-boat Eber first struck the reef 
and was turned keel upward. Immediately the na- 
tives, forgetting their enmity, rushed into the roar- 
ing breakers, at the risk of their lives, and rescued 
one officer and four men, while five officers and 
sixty-six men were seen no more. The German 
flag-ship Adler was lifted bodily from the water and 
with great fury cast upon the top of the reef, and 
turned over on her side. Then took place a des- 
perate struggle for life. Many of the men plunged 
into the boiling surf and struck out for shore. Of 
the one hundred and thirty officers and men on 
board, twenty were drowned or killed when the 
ship careened. The remainder succeeded in gain- 
ing the shore. The German corvette Olga^ after 
striking against nearly every other ship, was beached 
on a sand-flat, and soon after the storm abated was 
got afloat again. 

The British corvette Calliope^ possessing more 
powerful engines than any of the other ships, 
slipped her cable and successfully steamed out to 
sea, though narrowly escaping being dashed on the 
reef 

The United States steamer Vandalia was hurled 
upon the reef with terrific force and sunk near the 
shore. Those of her officers and men who at- 
tempted to swim to land, were nearly all drowned. 
Those who clung to her masts were violently swept 
off a few hours later by the Trenton, as she floated 
past, driven by the wind. Some of them fell into 
the raging waters, and others upon the deck of the 



158 THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

Trenton, The Vmidalia lost five officers and thirty- 
nine men. As she struck, her commander, Cap- 
tain Schoonmaker, one of the most valuable men 
of the navy, was thrown against one of the guns, 
stunned, and lost. So also was Lieutenant Sutton, 
a brilliant young officer of great promise. With 
them also went down Paymaster Arms, and his 
clerk, John Roche, both noble and faithful men. 
The Trenton^ after passing the Vandalia^ rushed on 
and was thrown upon the beach in front of the 
American consulate, losing but one man. 

During the entire perilous scene, the Samoans are 
said to have exhibited the utmost humanity and 
heroism in their efforts to save the perishing men, 
making no distinction between nationalities. The 
storm continued two days, and when it had passed, 
the Bay of Apia presented one vast field of wreck- 
age. From all the shipping about nine hundred 
men were saved and had to be provided for on 
shore. 

It is impossible to estimate the force of such a 
hurricane, or cyclone, as it is now known to have 
been. The most powerful cables are snapped like 
pack-thread. The heaviest anchors are drawn from 
their beds, as if but feather weights, and ships caught 
in its grasp are tossed upon reef or shore like mere 
playthings. Nearly all the great hurricanes of the 
coral seas are " circular gales," traveling in one di- 
rection. They sometimes sweep out from the trop- 
ics and traverse vast reaches of the ocean, leaving 
appalling destruction in their path. Happily, how- 
ever, they are not frequent. This gale of March 
16 and 18, 1889, traversed over twelve hundred 
geographical miles, embracing in its track the 
Hervey Islands and the Society group. At Rara- 
tonga, Hervey Islands, the United States steamer 
Red Cross was driven ashore and lost. 



CYCLONES IN THE CORAL SEAS. . 1 59 

For days after news of the sad event reached the 
respective countries, the bulletin boards of the news- 
papers were eagerly scanned for details of the disas- 
ter, and for the names of the lost and saved. Of 
Americans there were lost four officers and forty- 
six men ; of Germans, nine officers and eighty-seven 
men. Upon learning of the unfortunate occurrence, 
Queen Victoria requested the British Minister at 
Washington to express to the President of the 
United States her deep sympathy with those who 
had been so greatly bereaved. A similar message 
was also telegraphed to Berlin. 

As we have said, storms of this character are not 
common events in the South Pacific. Sometimes 
years elapse between their visits. True, every 
winter there occur gales of greater or less severity, 
but the inhabitants appear to be little disturbed by 
them. And certainly, few of their dwellings are 
constructed to resist great force of wind. The fol- 
lowing description of the sudden rising of a gale in 
the island of Vanua Levu, Fiji — given us by a 
traveler in that group — will convey an idea of the 
usual effect produced by such commotions: — 

''After luncheon I took a quiet 'siesta' and 
awoke about three o'clock, and was surprised to 
find that all around us the aspect of nature had 
changed as if by magic. There w^as a restless 
movement of the trees, a singular lull in all nature's 
voices, and that indescribable oppressiveness which 
forebodes a storm. The sky had a lurid glow that 
I didn't like. In a moment we were all on our feet. 
' It's coming/ remarked one. ' It will not be much 
of a blow,' added another. 'A mere passing wind,' 
affirmed a third. But instantly Savu-Savu Bay 
was a sea of seething white foam. The waves 
leaped with fierce fury over the islets of coral, out 



l6o THE FIJI AND SAMOAN GROUPS. 

by Kombelo Point; darker grew the sky; now 
the rain came down in a deluge ; the distant cocoa- 
nut trees bent their trunks ; their leaves stretched 
wildly out before the blast; far away to the south, 
the lightning lit up the blue outline of an island; 
now a distant peal of thunder reached our ears. A 
few minutes later the wind suddenly dropped ; the 
sea grew calm; the cocoanut trees raised their 
heads; the clouds fled away; the bright sun shone 
out, and all nature was serene again." 

'' I ventured to remark," said the traveler, that 
'Hhe sight was grand while it lasted, but as a gale 
it was not very alarming." 

^'Not a champion one for these latitudes," replied 
the host, ^^ but sufficient for our wants." 

This account would probably describe two-thirds 
of the storms occurring in this archipelago. In 
February, 1865, however, Samoa was visited by a 
hurricane which laid the pretty little island of 
Manono almost bare. In 1850, also, there happened 
another, wrecking two ships and a schooner in this 
bay. But, as if to compensate for that, Samoa was 
for fifteen years thereafter exempt from atmospheric 
disturbances more alarming than swift gales. 

In America we can boast no such happy freedom 
from desolating storms. The past fifteen years 
have furnished us hundreds of them. They come 
in a moment, leave destruction in their track, and 
vanish before one can think what has happened. 






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